UoN student leaders announce mass demos across all campuses

Student leaders from the University of Nairobi have organised a major demonstration on Monday, September 20, 2021, to protest the new fee structure.

One of the leaders of the University of Nairobi Student Association said that talks between the student body and the university management had collapsed.

Deliberations with the University of Nairobi administration on the increment of both school fees and accommodation fees have collapsed.

University of Nairobi (UoN) main campus Pulse Live Kenya

“Therefore, there will be mass demonstrations in all University of Nairobi Campuses beginning from Monday 20th September 2021.

“In that regard, all first-year parents and students who are to report to the University on that date are advised not to report to the university,” a notice from the UNSA read.

UoN increased fees for degree courses like commerce, economics and law under the Module II by up to 70 per cent to about Sh1 million for the four years.

Master’s courses like communication and MBA were increased to more than Sh600,000 for a two-year programme from an average of Sh275,000.

UoN implemented the new fee structure despite orders from the Ministry of Education which told universities to wait until 2022 to effect the changes.

This signalled a frosty relationship between Education CS George Magoha and UoN Vice Chancellor Stephen Gitama.

The VC had earlier defied ordered from the CS to shelve the restructure of the school, which like many universities in Kenya, has been operating on a profit.

The management had announced a restructuring process to cut costs and increase efficiency after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified it as one of the public bodies earmarked for reforms due to their poor financial standing.

UoN students protest ece-auto-gen

“Proposed reviews that necessitate abolishing or establishing positions in the governance and administrative structures of a public university or constituent college, especially those not envisaged in the Universities Act, 2012, must comply with the necessary legal framework governing such changes and be forwarded to the ministry through the Commission for University Education,” Prof Magoha stated.