Zangena Season Hits UNZA as Students Celebrate

 

UNIVERSITY of Zambia students feasting on Sunday to celebrate the rein-statement of meal allowances by President Hakainde Hichilema

UNZASU grateful to HH for restoring meal allowances. UNIVERSITY of Zambia (UNZA) students on Saturday held a come together, which was dubbed 'Zangena meal allowance', to celebrate the reinstatement and payment of meal allowances by President Hakainde Hichilema.

The feast, which was held on Saturday night, was characterised by various dances and chants from students in appreciation of President Hichilema.

University of Zambia Students Union (UNŽASU president Chandra Choongo said in an interview that the feast was held to celebrate the payment of April meal allowances, which hit their bank accounts on Friday, a week after receiving all arrears owed to them for previous months.

Mr Choongo said after receiving their first payments, the students made contributions, which sponsored the massive feast they held. 

"The students are very excited, that is why we held that powerful feast just to appreciate President Hakainde Hichilema for honoring his campaign promise of reinstating student meal allowances once voted into power" he said. 

"All the students made contributions to raise money to hold that successful feast and we are happy that we are happy that we managed to feed everyone. The first payment of our meal allowances was credited into our accounts on Friday and this covered all the arrears accumulated during the months they conducted screening and verification.

Then our April payment was credited into accounts last week Friday and that is the very day we decided to hold that feast to say thank you to the President for bringing back the meal allowances."

Mr Choongo said the students have invited President Hichilema for a visit so that they could share other challenges such as inadequate accommodation.

"We would like to also invite President Hichilema for a meal," he said. "We want to invite him to come and visit us so that we can share with him many other challenges we are facing here.

"We do not have sufficient accommodation to cater for all of us yet we have hostels that have been under construction for many years and are still incomplete.

We believe that he is a man of action and we believe that the same way he has reinstated our meal allowances, he will also sort out issues of accommodation because this is one of the major challenges affecting students right now."

Mr Choongo believes the reinstatement of meal allowances will once again make UNZA attractive to those coming from vulnerable families.

"It is not only the meal allowances, we also have student bursaries coming in and we are grateful to Government," he said. "Most of brilliant youths who are here at UNZA come from poor family backgrounds and could not manage providing for themselves, but life has been made easy for everyone now.

"1 also believe strongly those girls who used to entertain sugar daddies they call blessers, who are even older than their fathers, will now renew their characters as they will be able to raise their own tuition fees and provide groceries for themselves.

Source:  Zambia Daily Mail - JUSTINAH MUKUKA