Confirmed: Police arrested 14 Polytechnic students during demos

Up to 14 students from the Polytechnic are in police custody after their arrest during demonstrations that were held at the university on Friday and will appear before court this Monday, police say.

The students have been charged with conduct likely to cause breach of peace and they will appear before the court on Monday.

The alert police officers had stormed the campus as the scare about the demos kept making rounds and when the students managed to get to the streets, the law enforcers dispersed them with teargas before the vigils against the recent fee hike git halted.

According to Southern region police spokesman James Kadadzera police’s swift reaction to the situation ensured that the no any serious concerns hit the city.

The students had started demonstrating along the Masauko Chipembere Highway, but did not succeed after the intervention by police.

The police threw teargas canisters to the students who blocked the Highway before a few running battles between them saw the teargas affecting patients at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital- which is just a few metres from the college.

The students staged the vigils in unison with Chancellor College students who held demos this week before the college got sealed.

The University of Malawi (Unima) announced a fee hike in all its constituent colleges.

The fees see Chancellor College as the cheapest with its mature students paying K900,000. The Polytechnic comes next with a fee of K950,000.

Mature students studying at Kamuzu College of Nursing will be required to pay K1,000,000 while those at the College of Medicine will be asked to pay K1,400,000.

The students want the Council to revise this decision.

However the council has indicated it will not rescind this decision.