UoN orders postgraduate students back to class

University of Nairobi (UoN) has ordered post-graduate and distance learning students to resume their studies immediately two days after the Senate closed the varsity over deteriorating security situation following pro-Babu Owino protests.

Students in Mombasa and Kisumu satellite campuses have also been directed to resume their studies with immediate effect.

However, undergraduates students in UoN’s Main Campus and Kabete which were affected by the security crackdown as anti-riot police ‘hunted down criminals’ will remain at home much longer.

The protests were initially sparked by the re-arrest of Embakasi East MP, Babu Owino, over his utterances against President Kenyatta at a rally in Kawangware.

At least 35 UoN students were arrested and 26 injured during the brutal crackdown by anti-riot police officers who were invited by the university’s security department.

The institution’s Vice Chancellor Prof Peter Mbithi confirmed that the university invited the anti-riot police into the campus after total breakdown of order.

Following Prof Mbithi’s comments, a group of students went on rampage at the Kabete Campus where they broke into the Student Welfare Association’s offices destroying property and burning documents while demanding resignation of the VC.

They were accusing the vice chancellor, Prof Mbithi, of  failing to protect the students from police brutality.