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Chuka University ordered to readmit 36 expelled students

Justice Weldon Korir said the decision to expel the students was unlawful, saying that they ought to have been given an opportunity to defend themselves/FILE

Justice Weldon Korir said the decision to expel the students was unlawful, saying that they ought to have been given an opportunity to defend themselves/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 9 – The High Court on Monday ordered 36 students expelled from Chuka University to return to the institution and continue with their studies.

Justice Weldon Korir said the decision to expel the students was unlawful, saying that they ought to have been given an opportunity to defend themselves.

The court had allowed the students to challenge their expulsion following violent unrest stemming from chaotic elections held on January 29.

They were aggrieved by the decision made by the Chuka University Senate on April 15 to send them home after the university administration conducted disciplinary hearings between March 21 and 24.

“The decision by the university and the Senate to expel the students was malicious, unlawful, oppressive and in total breach of natural justice and the rules and regulations of the university,” the complainants – through lawyer Apollo Mboya – told the court.

The court heard that the university disciplinary committee that recommended the expulsion was not fully and properly constituted and did not accord the students fair administrative action.

Mboya told the court that the expulsion had disrupted the academic life of the students, who missed crucial lectures and final examinations.

Mboya confirmed that the State, on April 13, terminated the criminal case against 18 students who had been charged before the Chuka Senior Principal Magistrate’s court with taking part in an unlawful assembly.

Kennedy Omondi Waringa, who vied for the chairmanship of the Chuka University Students Association (CUSA), claimed his supporters were punished with expulsion after holding a demonstration to protest the glaring irregularities that marred the polls.

“The constitutional rights of the students will be violated and the ends of justice will be defeated if they are not allowed to continue with their education,” he said in a sworn statement.

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The students were seeking orders compelling the university administration to organise and administer special lectures to all under-graduate 1st to 4th year students who missed classes during the unrest.

They want all pending disciplinary appeals heard and determined expeditiously.

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