On the 16th of October, Meru University students took to the streets to protest against the fee increment by the administration. The strike started brewing a week to the commencement of the semester one academic year 2017/2018 after the fee structure was updated.
Several students aired their complaints on the school’s Facebook group and promised to strike against that which they claimed to be an unlawful fee increment. Funny enough, some had said that Meru University students are only good at being Twitter warriors. They recognized and praised the University of Nairobi students for being the “kusema na kuenda” type, and the fact that their ladies take an active role in participating in the demonstrations.The administration was shocked when the online strike turned into real action following a post by Wangila Wabomba that urged the students to turn out in numbers and take part.
Comrades have also expressed their dissatisfaction and lack of confidence in the SAMU chairman Wangila Wabombo. They took to social media saying that he was bribed by the administration to help them avoid the strike in order to suppress the views of the students. The Students Association of Meru University (SAMU) chairman later claimed that a pseudo account was used to pass the message. He claims to be consulting with the administration to have a peaceful solution on the fee issue. Comrades also raised concerns that some courses offered by the institution were not certified.
The Vice-Chancellor Professor Magambo has therefore issued a notice that closes the school until further notice. Surprisingly the Town campus and Marimba learning center (both branches of MUST) are still up and running according to a memo posted on the university site.
