Transport paralysed after students go on rampage

Transport along Narok-Bomet highway was paralysed for over two hours after students from Maasai Mara University barricaded the road with stones and burnt tyres protesting a delay in the disbursement of Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) funds.

Businesses were closed as the rowdy students turned to looting food kiosks at Total Estate before police, led by Narok Deputy County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi, intervened to quell the situation.

Police fired in the air and lodged teargas canisters to disperse the students.

According to Taraya Lemaiyan, a student leader, the students were also protesting the extension of holidays after the university introduced longer school holidays against the students’ wishes.

Lemaiyan urged the government to release the funds, adding that students in other institutions of higher learning, including the University of Nairobi, had to protest before the funds were released.

He added that the students would not relent in asking for the funds and will continue with the demonstrations until they are heard.

This comes just four months after Maseno University students protested over the delay of HELB loans just before sitting their end of semester exams.