Malawi President Joyce Banda will in two weeks time become Chancellor of the Mzuzu University (Mzuni), it has been disclosed. Making the announcement, the Mzuzu University office says the installation ceremony will be conducted at the University’s campus on August 24. “The State President, Her Excellency Mrs. Joyce Banda, will be installed as the new Chancellor of Mzuzu University on 24th August 2012,” the University has stated.
The installation ceremony will be held before the University’s 14th congregation, which Mrs. Banda will be expected to preside over. “Her Excellency Mrs. Joyce Banda will preside over the 14th university congregation after the installation,” reveals the university.
Mzuni further states that those who will be awarded with Mzuzu university certificates, diplomas and degrees are the ones who successfully completed in the fields of education, security services, environmental sciences, health sciences, information science and communication, tourism and hospitality management. The installation of President Banda as University Chancellor will empower the President to be making official decisions for the university unlike this time around. “At the moment she can be making decisions as head of state and not of the university, which can give room to challenges. “It is imperative that she becomes a Chancellor otherwise her decisions can be challenged,” observed a Blantyre based social commentator Kenny Wyson.
Before his demise, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika was the Chancellor of the university. Joyce Banda became the president of Malawi following constitutional order after the death of Professor Bingu wa Mutharika on April 5 this year. By virtue of being President of the Republic of Malawi, Mrs. Joyce Banda becomes Chancellor of the country’s universities, Mzuzu being one of them. Last week, a daily local newspaper in Malawi carried a story where legal experts and others argued on the eligibility of the president to be commander in chief of the Malawi Police Service when there is no such provision in the country’s constitution.
Immediately after she was sworn in as Malawi president, Mrs. Joyce Banda was given a military sword by the Malawi Defense Forces Commander General Odillo, empowering her to be the Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces. The Mzuzu ceremony will be Banda’s first assignment in the country’s universities.
