LILONGWE (MaraviPost)—Just like his late brother did, it seems Malawi President Professor Peter Mutharika has picked his own battle with the academia as evidenced by the counter assault on him from Malawi eminent Professors.
Mutharika attacked university of Malawi (UNIMA) lecturers when he spoke on the role of lecturers during the UNIMA fundraiser to commemorate 50 years of its existence, a function which took place in the capital Lilongwe over the weekend.
In his speech, President Mutharika advised University Lecturers to focus on research and publishing in international journals rather than wasting time writing and commenting on trivial public issues.
However, the remarks have attracted a host of angry sentiments among the academia with many UNIMA lecturers questioning the rationale of the President’s comments.
One of Malawi’s most respected legal minds, Chancellor College constitutional law expert, Professor Edge Kanyongolo, has publicily demeaned the remarks made by the President.
Writing in response to the remarks, Kanyongolo said Mutharika should as well stop being naive when commenting on university matters.
” On my part, may I suggest that Presidents should focus on governance- for example, dealing with toxic bank “loans”, mustering the courage to go to Parliament to answer questions from MPs etc- instead of wasting time commenting on comments,” wrote Kanyongolo on his facebook page.
Being an eminent writer, Kanyongolo further dressed down the President with satire and sarcasm.
“Incidentally, many Unima academics I know are quite capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time,” said Kanyongolo. Asked to elaborate on what he meant when he says Unima lecturers can walk and chew gum at the same time, Kanyongolo said “they can multi-task. They can do research and spend a couple minutes on making comments without missing a beat.”
But in a follow up comments on Kanyongolo’s facebook post, Professor Danwood Chirwa who lecturers Law at University of Cape Town in South Africa dropped the hammer branding Mutharika as a ‘dubious scholar.’
Professor Chirwa Submitted:
“By the way Peter published very little, less than 10 recognised articles in a career spanning about 40 years. What he lists as books are compilations of instruments. He was awarded the professorship somewhere in 1977 not based on research output or excellence but confirmation of tenure, which is common in the US.
“He had no research output worth talking about by that time. It’s a pity Malawians have been fooled and believe he is professorial material. He isn’t and cannot be based on his academic outputs, both teaching and research.
“He also held no notable academic leadership post, eg Head of Department, Deputy Dean or Dean. It is thus understandable that he speaks as if he knows nothing about higher education, for he’s always been a dubious scholar