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Information gathered by Nyasa Times indicates that the Board of Governors of Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) attempted to tamper with an investigation report into allegations of bullying, wanton student withdrawals and cheating by lecturers.
We understand that the university council is currently in a dilemma as the report implicates academic staff who are related to the university vice-chancellor.
At the heart of the matter is an investigation launched by Kuhs Municipal Council in February this year after the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) reported that some academic staff bullied students and “rigged” grades, leading to the withdrawal of several Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students.
An independent working group has been set up to investigate the matter and submit a report to the Council within 30 days.
According to one affected student, participants were invited by the task force to conduct interviews and give evidence.
“The task force promised not to be influenced by any external factors. They also promised to provide a report to the participants within 30 days. To everyone’s surprise, it has now been more than 90 days and although the task force admits that it has completed the report, they are not willing to make it public,” an unnamed source told us.
The source added: “Again, to the surprise of many, when the report request was made, the task force admitted that there had been delays, but they also admitted that the work had been completed as promised, but the University Council was modifying/doctoring the report to suit what they wanted to find out through the investigation, rather than the facts that would be revealed after the natural course of the investigation.
“Some people involved in the investigation feel betrayed and dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation. They suspect that there is illegal behavior and the objectivity of the investigation results does not truly reflect the original report of the working group.”
Another affected student who spoke bluntly in an interview with us said the university council chairman, Professor Francis Moto, seemed conflicted because the report implicated the vice-chancellor’s wife and the wife’s cousin among other academic staff.
“My concerns are valid. Why should the university council review a report prepared by an independent task force? They have tampered with the report. We will not allow this to happen,” the student said.
In a document submitted to the task force, we see an impassioned note from one affected student, who called on the task force to take a serious look at the issue and make KUHeS an institution for all.
“Students should be judged on their ability, character and established rules and regulations, stop arbitrary punishment of innocent students, let students from all corners of Malawi and all over the world enjoy the constitutional right to education and academic freedom, let all students be treated equally, let universities stop keeping things sacrosanct and let all lecturers who violate rules and regulations be disciplined accordingly, as the current situation shows, students are not safe and society is not safe under the management of some lecturers in the institution,” the document reads.
According to highly placed sources in the task force, the report was completed in May and submitted to the university council for action in the first week of June. In fact, sources told us that the university council had held a meeting with the task force to discuss the penalties recommended in the report against the academic staff involved.
However, although the report was submitted in early June, Kuhs Registrar Christopher Namagowa said the independent task force had submitted its report to the council, but the council’s term of office expired on July 11, meaning the council could not publish its findings.
“The report has been submitted to parliament and is still on the parliament’s table. Unfortunately, the term of the Kuchs parliament will end on July 11, 2024. Currently, we are waiting for the appointment of the new parliament,” he said.
The PIJ report showed that of the 157 students who dropped out due to academic reasons between 2017 and 2022, 49% were from MBBS courses.
The task force includes members from the Kuhs Commission, the Malawi Medical Council, the Malawi Physicians Association, the Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Malawi Health Equity Network, among others.
However, the university registrar refused to explain why the council was reviewing the independent working group’s report, saying: “It is difficult for that to be answered on behalf of the council”.
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