By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA  –
THE Lusaka Apex Medical University (LAMU) has launched an ambitious programme to raise up to K300,000 from a golf tournament to be held in Lusaka next week to help provide scholarships to medical students at the institution.
LAMU vice-chancellor Evarist Njelesani said during a briefing at LAMU in Lusaka that in as much as the institution was enrolling more students, it realised not all people could afford to pay for the fees.
Professor Njelesani said that the fundraising golf tournament would be held at the Lusaka Golf Club on October 25 at which Finance Minister Alexander Chilkwanda will be the guest of honour.
He said the university presently has 6,000 students but planned raise the figure to 30,000.
Njelesani said in an effort to provide medical education to as many people as possible, the university had set up an Independent private scholarship fund to help students who could not afford to pay the university fees named ‘The Apex Scholarship Fund’ which would be run by a board.
“The university aims to sponsor 10 students every year in the beginning, one from each of the 10 provinces of Zambia. As funds become available, the university hopes that the number of sponsored students will increase,” Njelesani said.
He said the Fund was also an opportunity for the corporate world to take a noble cause by sponsoring students through the corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The golf tournament has been split into various sponsorship packages ranging from platinum to gold down to individual.
The Platinum sponsorship is going at K30,000 while the gold one is pegged at K20,000 with silver at K15,000 and the Corporate Hole K5,000 as individual participation is at K400.