SAUT don lashes at student demos for ‘boom’

PIUS RUGONZIBWA in Mwanza

Vice-Chancellor of the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) Fr Dr Thadeus Mkamwa

STUDENTS seeking loans to join higher learning institutions have been counselled to follow procedures and shun unnecessary demands through demonstrations to press for their demands.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) Fr Dr Thadeus Mkamwa cautioned here yesterday that while the government struggled to ensure every eligible student gets a loan, the beneficiaries need to follow all the stipulated procedures to qualify for financial support.

Dr Mkamwa was speaking at the University’s Community Day mainly an occasion for SAUT students to showcase their academic activities staged shortly before the graduation ceremonies set for this weekend.

According to the VC, the government would ensure that the loans are given to genuine students and challenged potential beneficiaries to make self-assessments on whether they fulfilled all the required procedures “as amicably and responsibly as possible.”

“You need to satisfy the Loans Board that you qualify for these highly competitive loans rather than staging demonstrations and putting pressure on the authorities … if I were in charge of these loans, all (those) demonstrating for loans would lose them outright,” he said.

Dr Mkamwa counselled the students to cultivate a culture of observing procedures in demanding for their rights citing some who reportedly attempted to forge death certificates of their parents to qualify for the loans.

In the meantime, he says SAUT will not give loans to students who fail to complete the registration requirements including paying for the registration fees ranging up to 285,000 per student. He said the students will now have to open special accounts in a selected bank which may provide the students with overdrafts to pay the registration fees and have the money deducted as soon as their loans are deposited in return.

The president of the Students' organisation, Mr Makamba Bahati has urged fellow students to formalise their admissions including making sure loans issues are well settled. He thanked the government, in particular President John Magufuli, for directing on fair allocation of loans to eligible students – saying the complaints on loans had since been “sharply reduced” this academic year.

But Sautso loan minister, Mr Franken Samson told the ‘Daily News’ there was a problem among many students misusing the loans on luxurious spending. He argues that the government could allocate all the loans that the students want but that it takes self-discipline and financial accountability – two missing factors among the growing number of students.