It never rains for the University of Malawi but it pours as teaching staff members in the colleges have vowed to down their tools following the collapse of negotiations on salary increase with government.The negotiations which have been going on for a while collapsed last Monday following what UNIMA staff union representatives called lack of commitment on the government side. The staff members on the teaching side are asking for a salary adjustment ranging from 30% as the cost of living has skyrocketed.
According to sources, there is a possibility that the lecturers are going to down tools following the unproductive meetings their Union has held with the University Council on several occasions.
This will come at a wrong time as the semester is coming to an end at Chancellor College while Polytechnic students are battling for the re-opening of their college and College of Medicine is only a month following its opening for this year first semester.
The downing of tools would lead to a second closure of Chancellor College this year alone; a scenario many students are praying not to see.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor of the University of Malawi, Peter Muthalika has lambasted the University councils of public Universities for being ineffective, wasteful and failing to solve problems on their own.
The President was speaking at LUANAR during a graduation ceremony.
He accused the Councils of failing to do what the laws conferred on them but always waiting for him to solve everything for the Councils. The President called on the Councils to be in the forefront of solving University problems not waiting for him to do everything.
It is not clear if the Council of University of Malawi will heed to this message and solve this salary impasse or waiting for the Chancellor to intervene. The Council failed to solve the fees adjustment which led to the closure of Chancellor College and it took the whole Chancellor to intervene and solve the impasse.
If this is a precedent then there is a possibility this salary impasse is also going to be at the desk of the Chancellor very soon.