Protests halt business at university

MASERU – BUSINESS at the National University of Lesotho (NUL) temporarily came to a halt yesterday after students embarked on a strike over unpaid living allowances.

The students went out of classes and began marching around the campus demanding that the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS) release their money.

They claimed that the NMDS had delayed to release their allowances.

Lectures were interrupted as the students took to the streets singing protest songs.

The strike started at 10am and ended later in the afternoon.

There were no reports of vandalism.

The NUL Students Representative Council (SRC) secretary general, Kama Ramatutu, said if their grievances are not addressed they will continue with the strike today.

“The students have been complaining about their allowances that never reached them, the school knows this,” Ramatutu said.

And when they approached the school management, they were told to write a formal letter, a demand he said only served to incense students further.

Ramatutu said this was just a waste of time since the management was aware of their grievances.

He said only a few students have received their allowances with the majority still not paid.

In a statement released yesterday, the NUL Vice-Chancellor Professor Isaac Fajana, asked the students to end the strike as they had never expressed their concerns formally.

He said until the management has received the list of grievances from the students, the students should stop disrupting lectures and go back to classes.

Professor Fajana said the university’s management had noted with concern the disruptive behaviour of students at the Roma campus.

He insisted that the students had not made any submission to the university authorities about their grievances.

Protests by students over delayed allowances from the NMDS are a constant feature at the university.

Nkheli Liphoto