Dedan Kimathi University of Science and Technology was yesterday closed indefinitely after students went on a rampage protesting a move by the administration to increase school fees. The students who took to the streets to express their displeasure with the move were given up to 1 pm to vacate the university premises.
“All face-to-face teaching has been suspended until further notice. You are hereby ordered to vacate the university premises with immediate effect,” read part of the notice put on the signboard and university official Facebook page. The students complained that the fees had been doubled from Sh. 37, 000 to Sh. 60, 000 per semester which they termed ‘unfair.’
“The administration has decided to deny students from poor backgrounds the right to education,” complained one of the protesters, Gikuyu Mwangi. They said their attempt to reason with the university administration led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Ndirangu Kioni bore no fruit forcing them to turn to street protests.
The protesting students demanded the university to suspend any fee hike without their input. Another student Kimanthi Ringera said, “It is either the administration reduces the fees or closes the university altogether since we are not ready to resume learning unless our grievances are addressed.”
Police officers were forced to use teargas canisters to disperse the rioting students who had started pelting some buildings with stones as well barricading the busy Nyeri-Nyahururu Highway. Efforts to reach the university administration for a comment bore no fruits as calls went unanswered.