By Nelson Manneh
Mr Nyaninka Manjang, the president of the University of the Gambia Students Union, has said the reinstatement of lecturers at the University of the Gambia is not under the mandate of the student union.
“A divided majority cannot move the agenda of the students union of the university. As the president of the student union, I cannot be voted to lead and other students take the law into their hands,” he said.
The President of the Students Union of the University said when the two lecturers of the university were sacked in mid-November, the union took its stance to make sure that students are not affected by the decision of the management of the university.
“As a student body, our mandate is to stand and fight for the welfare of our fellow students, we make sure that the student’s education is not affected. We can only advocate for the quick replacement of those lectures to make sure that students continue with their learning but we cannot demand for their reinstatement,” he said.
President Manjang said when the issue of school buses was raised, the union stood up to make sure that the issue was addressed because it is part of the welfare of the students but the appointment, dismissal, and reinstatement of lectures are beyond them as students.
He said people who were not students of the university took part in the protest. He said as students they should not be allowed to be used as puppets.
Mr Foday M. Sillah, the Secretary General of the UTG Students Union, said matters that affect the welfare of their fellow students concern the union to stand for.
“This whole saga came as a result of the two lecturers who were sacked by the management of the university. When the union got the information, we try to make sure that student’s lectures are not affected. We wrote to the management for them to replace those lecturers as soon as possible,” he said.
He said as students they put four demands before the management of the university and that is how far they can go. He said they don’t have the mandate to urge the university to reinstate those lecturers who were sacked.
He said after their engagement with the management of the university, those two lecturers were replaced, and the dates, times, and venue of lectures were maintained.
Mr Ebrima Bayor, the Secretary General of the Economics and Management Students Association, said when they received the news that these lecturers were sacked, they immediately wrote to the management of the university and copied it to the student union for those two lecturers to be replaced as soon as possible.
“There were a lot of engagements between the student union and the management of the university concerning this issue. We put our demands before the management. We were there for the welfare of the students but not to make sure that the two lecturers are reinstated,” he said.
He said there was a shift in the whole issue that is what brought about the strike. He said the divided opinion should not have prompted the students to protest.
“On 14 November, the University of the Gambia sacked two prominent lecturers and since then the replacement was not done until recently, ‘ Ebrima Mbaye said.
He said they were aware that the student union has met with management for the replacement.
‘But the concern is that those lecturers were not going to class and the students are not attending class. That is a failure,’ he said.
He said it is not fair to the students as they approach examination.
He said that the new lecturers are demanding students to do two tests while they are having exam next week.
He said the new lecturers have to compensate the affected students the classes they missed before they can sit for their exams.
