Property destroyed as students riot

standartmedia.co.ke

Tuesday, 18th May 2010

By CYRUS OMBATI and PETER ORENGO

Rioting University of Nairobi students burnt vehicles and caused a traffic snarl up in protests against dissolution of their union.

One of the torched cars belonged to a student at the institution, while the second one was left on the road after they threw stones at its owner.

The cars were reduced to shells in the Sunday night incident. Police tried to repulse the rioters with teargas canisters in vain. Three of the student leaders arrested on Sunday were yesterday charged with incitement to violence at a Nairobi court.

Yesterday, anti-riot police kept vigil outside the campus while the university administration engaged student leaders in talks. The students were also enraged by the nullification of their leaders’ elections after goons raided the counting and tallying hall and disrupted business on Friday night. The university library was broken into and books stolen in the chaos, which VC George Magoha blamed on external political influence.

He appealed to university administrations to be democratic when dealing with students. Ruto asked the senate to initiate necessary mechanisms for fresh elections to continue the interface between the student fraternity and the university.

Incitement charge

Meanwhile, three students from the University of Nairobi have been charged with incitement to violence.

The three were arrested on Sunday during the riots after the abortive students’ election.

Kimathi Nabeya, Bernard Omondi and Winfred Mukiri appeared before Nairobi Magistrate Grace Macharia yesterday. They, with others not in court, were said to have jointly said « Hatutakubali maneno ya administration (We won’t accept what the administration says) ». Osiani must go. »

They allegedly uttered the words on Saturday at the university’s exhibition hall. Police claim the words meant the university administration should be forced out of office, and calculated to lead to a strike.

Mr David Osiani is the immediate former chairman of the Students Organisation of Nairobi University (Sonu) and not an administrator.

The three were arrested following chaos that rocked the institution’s main campus since Friday evening as students protested a move by the administration to dissolve the union. The students had earlier held elections for the union officials.

Osiani was defending his seat, but a row erupted over the elections’ outcome. The university administration then dissolved the union, and appointed a caretaker committee.

Students claimed the elections had been rigged to retain candidates favoured by the administration.

The three students were arrested outside Chester House in Nairobi, where they had gone to address a news conference. They denied the charges and were released on a Sh30,000 cash bail each, until July 7.

Students charged over Kenya riots

capitalfm.co.ke

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 17 – Three University of Nairobi students were on Monday charged with incitement to violence following the strike that caused damage to property on Friday night.

Kimathi Nabea, Bernard Omondi and Alfred Mukiri however denied the charge before Principal Magistrate Grace Macharia.

Mr Kimathi was also separately charged with possessing a sword. The three students were released on a Sh30,000 cash bail.

Students from the university rioted over the weekend following disputed elections of their students’ organisation last week.  On Sunday, they set ablaze a saloon car on State House Road.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister William Ruto intervened in the ongoing dispute between the university administration and the students union and opposed the decision by the University Council to disband the students union.

Addressing the media, Mr Ruto said that he had directed the University Council to furnish him with the steps they had taken to address the problem occasioned by alleged irregularities in the University of Nairobi Students Association (SONU) polls.

“I have also advised the University Senate and Council that I do not think banning a students’ union is an option. They should instead engage in constructive discussion with SONU so that we can get to an amicable solution on when an election can be carried out and I expect a result latest tomorrow (Tuesday),” he said.

The Higher Education Minister also called for calm and asked the students to practice democracy during their polls.

“If there are issues let us be civil, let us be democratic (and) sort them out in a manner that does not lead in the unnecessary loss of property;” he said and asked the student body at the UoN to be calm or not to allow agents who are beyond the university to influence the outcome.

The University Senate had on Saturday suspended SONU for one year.

According to the resolutions posted on the University`s website, the Senate attributed its decision to the actions of irate students who rioted and destroyed university property.

A statement by Vice Chancellor Prof George Magoha said the council had also resolved: “That a 20 member caretaker committee comprising representatives from the duly elected officials of the campus based professional organisations, from the eight campus colleges immediately takes over the running SONU activities and performs any other functions that the Senate may direct up to April 30, 2011.”

The standoff follows the union’s elections which ended in disarray on Friday after claims of attempted rigging and political interference.

The irate students took to the streets to protest the move destroying university property and blamed the university administration for interfering with the elections.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 18 Mai 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots