By Poloko Mokhele
There was total chaos and pandemonium at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology campus earlier today when students staged a protest to express displeasure at the delayed disbursement of stipends by the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS).
The disruptions began after the first classes of the day, when the second classes were expected to commence around 10:15. Some of the students who were already in their classes were forced to vacate the premises by the security guards.
The university’s gates were immediately locked and Moshoeshoe Road blocked after the students vacated, however they chanted outside the gate shouting ‘no money, no school’. A few minutes later, members of the Lesotho Mounted Police Services warned the striking students to disperse or face forceful removal.
However, this seemed to incense the already irate students even more, as they dared the police to come and remove them, as they blockaded the road with rocks and burning tyres. This was the cue the police were waiting for as, 15 minutes later, a combi-load of cops arrive at the scene and started firing what was believed to be rubber bullets at the students, forcing them to scatter in different directions.
A handful of students were detained briefly and forced to clean up the road. It is not clear if classes will resume tomorrow, since students who spoke to theReporter vowed to return to school only when they have received their stipends.
