President Peter Mutharika says University students should stay away from politics and concentrate on defending peace.
Mutharika made the remarks today at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) graduation ceremony in Zomba.
The president has commended the students of UNIMA for refraining from waging violence to please politicians.
“Throughout the last campaign and election, the University of Malawi refused to be dragged into partisan politics. You refused to be used; you refused to disrupt classes for the sake of individual politicians,”
“I know, they have tried to recruit University students into the campaign of violence. For the first time, our University students have been wise and refused to join politics of destruction. As a result, we are able to finish our academic calendar and graduate on time,” he said.
Mutharika says students should continue saying no to political violence and be the source of peace.
“This is very commendable. We should never allow evil to triumph because we choose silence over what we know is right. Let us rise and reject political violence. We must say no to violence. Again, say no violence! Let us rise up and defend peace,”
“We all need to go back to the path of peace. As we go into soul searching and reflection as a nation ,I am encouraged with the direction taken by the University,” he said.
Mutharika asked the graduating students to dream big if they want realise their dreams in life.
“I urge you to go forward with more decisive determination. Dream big ! Think big! And act decisively! Your future is like clay in your hands. You shape your future with the decisions and actions you take every day. I believe that as humans and nations, we were created to succeed. We we’re never designed for failure,”
“As you move ahead, remember , what matters most is what you do from here. It is not what your degree will do for you. It is what you can do with your degree that matters most,” Mutharika said.
According to the president, today’s graduation for University of Malawi because the constituent colleges will soon become independent.
“As a University , we made a decision to delink the colleges and make them colleges. Now, it is time for us to assume serious responsibility of our decision. We must be ready for the change,”
“I want to see Chancellor College, The Polytechnic, and College of Medicine together with Kamuzu College of Nursing become Universities,” he said.
According Mutharika, the delinking will cultivate a culture of competitiveness in public universities.
“Our goal is to create more University space for Malawians. We want to cultivate a culture of competitiveness in our public universities. We want to see growth and variety in University education,”
“Therefore, every University must find its identity and competitive edge. Every University must find its spirit. The spirit of the University lies in the ideas and character. Every University must define its character. And every University must define its place in the world,” Mutharika said.
