By Eric G Ndubi
University of Nairobi students went on the rampage on Wednesday protesting the death of their colleague who had been killed by a motorist.
It started with warnings on Twitter for the public to keep off the city centre. They had planned to hold demonstrations to "mourn" his death.
The student was knocked by the vehicle as he crossed University Way. He was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The students hurled stones at motorists for more than two hours before police quelled the riots around 9.30am. Property of unknown value was destroyed in the riots.
Some of the students said they had to "moan a comrade in style".
While student riots are not
entirely new in Kenya or world over, the motives for demonstrations have
been changing over the years.
On May 10, 1966, about 20,000 students took to the streets in Paris to join workers in a protest over bad governance. They braved heavy police fights throughout the night in an attempt to force the French government to change governance with key objectives such as self-management by workers, decentralisation of economic and political power and participatory democracy at the grassroots. They managed to get then President Charles de Gaulle to announce elections in June.
In 1967, US college students were in the forefront in the opposition to the government's involvement in the Vietnamese war.
In the late 1960s, student activism contributed highly to the democratisation process in Kenya. For instance, on January 27, 1969 when the government prevented Kenya Peoples Union leader Oginga Odinga from addressing students at the University College of East Africa (now University of Nairobi), there occurred a serious demonstration which led to closure of the university.
Other notable strikes were in1972 when Nairobi University students held a protest demanding an underpass on Uhuru-Highway and in 1974 they held a demonstration to demand the introduction of a loan system.
Those were the days when university student leaders were darlings of Kenya's reform agenda. Some of the students paid a heavy price through arbitrary arrests and expulsions. Some have had successful political careers and have been forces for change in Parliament, former Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang' who died last year.
These arguably contrast with the current university student leadership motivation for riots characterized by unwarranted destruction of property.
University of Nairobi students went on the rampage on Wednesday protesting the death of their colleague who had been killed by a motorist.
It started with warnings on Twitter for the public to keep off the city centre. They had planned to hold demonstrations to "mourn" his death.
The student was knocked by the vehicle as he crossed University Way. He was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The students hurled stones at motorists for more than two hours before police quelled the riots around 9.30am. Property of unknown value was destroyed in the riots.
Some of the students said they had to "moan a comrade in style".
- Students of the University of Nairobi protesting along Uhuru Highway following the death of their colleague who was knocked down by a motorist (Photo: Courtesy Capital FM)
On May 10, 1966, about 20,000 students took to the streets in Paris to join workers in a protest over bad governance. They braved heavy police fights throughout the night in an attempt to force the French government to change governance with key objectives such as self-management by workers, decentralisation of economic and political power and participatory democracy at the grassroots. They managed to get then President Charles de Gaulle to announce elections in June.
In 1967, US college students were in the forefront in the opposition to the government's involvement in the Vietnamese war.
In the late 1960s, student activism contributed highly to the democratisation process in Kenya. For instance, on January 27, 1969 when the government prevented Kenya Peoples Union leader Oginga Odinga from addressing students at the University College of East Africa (now University of Nairobi), there occurred a serious demonstration which led to closure of the university.
Other notable strikes were in1972 when Nairobi University students held a protest demanding an underpass on Uhuru-Highway and in 1974 they held a demonstration to demand the introduction of a loan system.
Those were the days when university student leaders were darlings of Kenya's reform agenda. Some of the students paid a heavy price through arbitrary arrests and expulsions. Some have had successful political careers and have been forces for change in Parliament, former Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang' who died last year.
These arguably contrast with the current university student leadership motivation for riots characterized by unwarranted destruction of property.
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