Student leaders have in the past been accused of corruption, hooliganism, violence and puppets of the administration and national political leaders. But one student leader has promised to change that. Zack Kinuthia, the incoming chairman of the Students Organization of Nairobi University is determined to transform the image of the biggest and probably the most infamous student organization in the country.
The 3rd year Economics and Political Science major is confident that he is up to the task thanks to his beliefs anchored in his Christian faith. The new chairman is probably the first ever ‘born-again’ Christian to hold the post at UoN.
Zack, who is also an usher at Main Campus Christian union fellowship, believes that his entry in politics is God-ordained and that he is there to fulfill God’s purpose in politics and governance.
The fact that he emerged the winner in the recent highly competitive and controversial student elections says a lot of Zack. The elections are usually marred by bribery allegations, intimidation and under-hand tactics.
Zack carried the day by employing a convincing publicity campaign, meeting students in churches and one-on-one campaign. But he maintains he was elected simply because it was God who anointed him by clearing all the hurdles.
“God’s will prevail at the end of the day and as you know as the good book says ‘when God is on your side who can be against you?’ Students also believed in my potential to end mediocre in students’ leadership,” says Zack.
Born and bred in Muranga county, Zack is no first timer in the world of politics. He was the Chairman of Faculty of Arts in his first year and also vied unsuccessfully for SONU chair in his 2nd year,
On top of his agenda is to clean the image of Sonu that is now tainted with allegations of corruption and violent strikes. Many drivers have suffered the rage of students when they go on the rampage smashing windows along museum hill and Uhuru highway, sometimes on flimsy grounds.
Zack hopes to team up with philanthropy organizations to help the neediest students by providing them with scholarships and sponsorships while ensuring that the drug abuse menace in the university is solved.
“Drug abuse is very real in our universities today and I won’t just sit down and watch dreams of our youths go down the drain. I will join hands with NACADA and other similar organizations to create awareness and break the drug-abuse cycle.”
But knowing how ‘dirty’ politics can be in student politics, one wonders how a staunch Christian navigated through the murky waters of bribery, corruption, intimidation and mudslinging that is the mark of both national and local politics.