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Student unrest: Moi University becomes third uni to be closed in a month

By Hilary Kimuyu October 11th, 2019 1 min read

Moi University main campus was on Friday closed indefinitely following students violence.

The students engaged police in running battles for the better part of Friday morning.

The closure brings to three the number of higher learning institutions to be closed within a month. Kenyatta University main campus was closed on Wednesday and Masinde Muliro was shut late last month.

Officials of the Moi University Students Organisation (MUSO) in a memo released on Wednesday, October 9 claimed that their attempts to reach the school administrators were futile hence leaving them with no other option.

EIGHT DEMANDS

The students had initially issued eight demands including hiring of more lecturers, reduction of fees for supplementary exams and sacking of the university chief security officer.

But on Friday, the university, in an internal memo, following the unrest ordered them to vacate the university premises with immediate effect.

“All students at Main Campus are, therefore, directed to vacate the hostels and University premises by noon today Friday 11th, October 2019,” the notice signed by DVC Prof. I. N. Kimengi read in part.

On Wednesday, Kenyatta University was closed indefinitely following student unrest, which was witnessed on Monday and Tuesday.

During the Monday fracas, the protesting students engaged police in running battles within the institution and along the busy Thika Superhighway, where traffic flow was disrupted.

Late last month also saw Masinde Muliro University closed after students protested the administration’s alleged requirement that all students should clear their fees arrears before sitting their examinations.

Other grievances by the students were, internet outages in the university, harassment of students in the finance department, and the violation of the students’ organisation constitution by university administration.