A Blanket Condemnation of UoN Students by Potential Employers is Unwarranted

Opinion

By Jeremiah WAKAYA | @WakayaKE

The recent events that led to destruction of equipment belonging to MoSound Events at the University of Nairobi’s Chancellor’s Court are without a doubt regrettable and shameful. One would expect that demonstrations such as the one which led to destruction of MoSound equipment would be conducted in a peaceful manner, particularly when those engaging in such demonstrations are students from an institution of higher learning talk less of the University of Nairobi which prides itself as an unrivaled leader as far as higher education is concerned.

But this was not the case with students of the University of Nairobi expressing their grievances over a ban on cooking in halls of residence, claiming they had been exposed to exploitative food prices at varsity-owned food joints. They further alleged that the food joints did not have enough supply of food hence students were limited to food rations regardless of whether such rations were enough for them. And so, for a section of these students, the only way their voice would be heard was through demonstrations.

It is however the manner in which these demonstrations were carried out that raised eyebrows and escalated public anger against UoN with some employers threatening to impose a sanction on UoN-schooled graduates.

These disheartening remarks reminded me of my recent holiday at the coast following the indefinite closure of the university, where I was met with the hard question, “So why do you people riot?” This was the question posed to me by my mothers’ colleague who seemed to have had enough of these unpopular demonstrations by students from my university. Lucky for me though, this lady wasn’t so serious as I would later find out she was only trying to start a conversation with a colleagues’ son she had met for the first time. Lucky me!

We must however ask ourselves why it is that demonstrations by students at the University of Nairobi have increasingly become disruptive and synonymous with violence. One thing is certain and that is such demonstrations have a lot in common with how we demonstrate as a nation. You will agree with me that other public protests have equally seen properties belonging to innocent citizens destroyed.

While it may be true that the said MoSound equipment were vandalized following protests by a section of students, it is also a fact that not all students participated in the demos. Punishing all students is therefore unjustified and an action that will serve to destroy the lives of innocent peace loving Kenyans who are caught up in this growing public anger against an institution they find themselves in.

Any action against UoN students must therefore be targeted to those found culpable of the destruction suffered by MoSound. I would for instance support a ban on student leaders who have failed on several occasions to provide leadership and instead castigated and overseen massive destruction of properties to safeguard their personal interests. I would and will support sanctions on the university managers who despite failing to ensure that hooliganism is stamped out of our institution of higher learning, seamlessly secure appointments in key government parastatals upon retirement. These are the folks that head institutions that ought to ensure a smooth day-to-day running of operations in institutions they head whether as administrators or as student leaders; both of them and I mean both of them have questions to answer to the public.

Yes, there are people who must take responsibility for injustices committed in the name of University of Nairobi students but certainly not all of us.