REPUBLIC OF MALAWI

STATEMENT BY
HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. ARTHUR
PETER MUTHARIKA,
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF
MALAWI
ON THE
OCASSION OF THE 16
TH
CONGREGATION
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AT MZUZU UNIVERSITY
FRIDAY, 22
ND
AUGUST 2014.

First Lady of the Republic of
Malawi, Madame Gertrude
Mutharika,
The Vice President of the
Republic of Malawi, Right
Honourable Saulos Klaus
Chilima, and Mrs. Mary Chilima
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Minister of Education, Science
and Technology, Honourable Dr.
Emmanuel Fabiano MP
Chairman of the University
Council, Professor Brown B.
Chimphamba and Council
Members here present
Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Robert G.
Ridley
His Worship the Mayor of Mzuzu
City, Mr. William Mkandawire,
and city councilors here present
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Member of Parliament for Mzuzu
City, Honourable Mr. Leonard
Njikho and other MPs here
present
Crown Prince MMbelwa 5
th
,
Paramount Chief Kyungu, Senior
Chief Mtwalo and other
traditional leaders here persent
Members of the Diplomatic
Corps here present
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr.
Loveness Kaunda
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University Registrar, Mr. Vyson
Jedegwa
University Librarian, Deans,
Heads of department and
Academic staf and non-
Academic staf of Mzuzu
University
Invited dignitaries and
Honourable guests
Graduating students
Parents and Guardians
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Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to return to
Mzuzu University and especially to take
on the role of Chancellor at this, the
second public University in Malawi
established in 1997.
It gives me particular pleasure to do so
at this 16
th
Congregation, where 686
students are graduating, the largest
number of students ever to graduate at
this university.
I congratulate all of you graduands here
before us for your personal
achievements. I know that all of you,
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together with your proud families and
guardians have struggled and worked
hard to accomplish what we are
celebrating today. Enjoy this day of
celebration. You deserve it!
It is very gratifying to note that among
the graduands are 27 receiving
postgraduate degrees. Extending
qualifcations to postgraduate level and
supporting and beneftting from the
research output that postgraduate
students generate is an important part
of any universitys development. I
commend the University for expanding
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its postgraduate courses and I look
forward to more postgraduate scholars
graduating from Mzuzu University, and
indeed from all universities in Malawi,
in the future.
In my State of the Nation Address in
parliament in June, I committed myself
to improving education in Malawi, and
to assist the further expansion of
quality Higher Education in this
country. My acceptance of the position
of Chancellor is a manifestation of this
commitment to, and interest in, Higher
Education. As has been mentioned by
others here today, about my personal
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background, having taught at several
universities in both Africa and overseas,
and having achieved the rank of an
endowed and chaired Professor, gives
me an understanding and appreciation
of education in general, and Higher
Education in particular.
Honourable guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen
There are several aspects of Higher
Education in this country that must be
addressed if we are to develop, namely:
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Access, Quality, Relevance, and
Management and Good Governance.
Access to higher education still remains
a privilege of a few people in this
country. We must increase the numbers
of students able to access university
education through having more
available places. Sadly, we are amongst
the lowest performing countries in our
region in this regard. We need to
improve, both by expanding enrollment
at existing universities and through the
creation of new universities. It is the
wish of my government that more youth
are enrolled in university as higher
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education is critical to the development
of this country. We need also to venture
into a wide variety of disciplines, critical
to the development of Malawi. The 686
graduands before us today represent
the future leaders of this country,
whether they be teachers, scientists,
poets, entrepreneurs, lawyers or future
politicians.
The quality of university education
needs also to be critically accessed. A
university degree is of little use to
anybody if the person has not received
quality education. A student needs well
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qualifed lecturers, ideally at PhD level,
good library, laboratory and classroom
facilities and decent accommodation to
be able to succeed. Once again, we
must acknowledge that achieving this
level of quality is a challenge to our
universities. Government has recently
established the National Council for
Higher Education. The frst challenge of
this new organization is to monitor,
register and accredit universities and
academic programmes to make sure
that no university student, whether at a
private or a public university, has a
sub-standard education.
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Relevance of education is another key
factor for higher education in Malawi.
We need pogrammes that are
responsive to the development needs of
our country. We need students who can
think critically, clearly and
communicate well and have expertise in
critical areas needed by our country for
development. I note that Mzuzu
University focuses on Education and
Teacher Training, Environmental
Sciences, Health Sciences, Information
Sciences and Tourism and Hospitality
Management. These are all relevant
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areas of study for national development
and I challenge the University to work
hand in hand with stakeholders,
including the private sector, to make
sure that the courses they give meet the
needs of students, future employers and
the country as a whole. I also challenge
the University to develop students who
can become entrepreneurs and future
business leaders. We need graduates
who can create jobs as well as occupy
jobs.
I will be failing my duty if I dont put
emphasis on need for good management
and governance in universities.
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Universities must follow the Acts and
statutes under which they operate,
develop and fairly administer good
internal policies, procedures and
regulations in a timely manner and be
bastions of integrity. It is essential that
all members of a university, namely
staf and students, follow these internal
procedures and regulations and, above
all, retain a high level of integrity.
Honourable guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen
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The challenges facing our universities
and our education system in general,
and indeed many other aspects of life in
Malawi, have arisen because, as a
nation, we have limited resources. We
have to fnd innovative ways of
fnancing our universities both through
attracting more resources from outside
the country and through fnding
additional resources from within the
country, whether this be through public
funds, through fees, or fnance from the
private sector. Universities themselves
must play a key role in raising these
resources.
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As an example of external fnance, my
Government has recently approved a
loan from the World Bank for a Skills
Development Project that will direct
signifcant resources to the University of
Malawi, Lilongwe University of
Agriculture and Natural Resources and
Mzuzu University. I am informed that
Mzuzu University will receive around 8
million dollars over four year to increase
access, quality and relevance to
students in its Tourism and Hospitality
faculty and its Open and Distance
Learning programmes. This is a good
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example of how government and
universities can work together with
development partners to access external
resources.
With respect to internal fnancing we
need to look carefully at how
universities are fnanced in Malawi. We
need to have a good balance of
resources obtained through subvention,
fees and other sources. This has to be
done in a way that generates improved
income for universities to provide a
good education, while still providing
adequate support for poorer students.
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One area that can be better utilized to
bring resources into Higher Education
is through public private partnership.
My Government is currently reviewing a
proposal to assist public universities to
work with the private sector to build
more and better student
accommodation in our public
universities.
Honourable guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen
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I leave my fnal remarks for the
graduands seated before us and their
families and guardians.
The graduands deserve our
congratulations and the families and
guardians deserve our thanks for their
support.
As you leave here with your
qualifcations today you will have to
continue learning and working hard to
succeed in whatever job or career you
take up. Do not take for granted what
you have. You have your certifcate,
diploma or degree today because of your
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hard work, but also because of the
support of your family, the dedication of
your teachers at school and many other
factors, including the taxes paid by the
Malawian people.
Many other equally gifted young people
did not get the opportunity you have
had to study and you owe it to those
people and Malawian society as a whole
to act ethically and responsibly as you
progress in your career and to share
your knowledge with others. I want to
believe that this graduating class has a
change in mindset. I want to see more
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of you creating jobs for your fellow
youth out there as you may be aware
that our jobs out there are not
sufcient for everyone. It is also my
hope that government can use most of
you in our skills development
programmes for the youth that have not
made it to University through our
community colleges.
I wish you every success in your future
lives. Your success is Mzuzu
Universitys success and the nations
success.
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God bless you all and God Bless Malawi
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