Maseno
University students early this week went on a rampage protesting against the
theft of their belongings. The theft cases have mostly affected the students
who rented rooms in the neighbouring community after missing the accommodation
within the university halls of residence. This comes on the background of
another strike that was staged last year where the students were angered by the
rape and theft cases that they alleged were perpetrated by the members of the community.
They destroyed properties and even lynched the some of the suspects who were
not so lucky and didn’t manage to escape from the students’ wrath.
Maseno
University is among the many universities located in rural areas like Moi
University and Egerton University which are located deep in the village and
they seem to have a cordial relationship with the surrounding community. Strike
in Kenyan universities is not something out of the ordinary. However, the last two
strikes in Maseno University are of special interest. The riots that occurred
in Maseno bring to fore sour relations between the university and the community
members dominated by the Abanyore- a sub tribe in the Luhya community. Things
become worse when Maseno increased the number of students admitted to the
university to around 3000 as opposed to 1000 that they have been admitting
before forcing them to transfer some students to the Kisumu Campus while others
sought for private accommodation in the surrounding neighbourhood as they were
hit with accommodation crisis. The increase in number of students living in the
surrounding community increased significantly and they became targets of the
thieves living in the community.
The
rampage was just a culmination of several issues underlying the relations
between the university and the community members. First, there is the issue of
land. Apparently, word on the ground has it that the community members are claiming
that the university took their land. Conversely, those privy to the issue say
that the university had paid the concerned community members before taking up
the land for development. The land in fact was bought long ago from their fore
fathers even before the dissenting youths were born or were too young to make
sense of anything.
Secondly,
the community members have accused the University of discrimination when it
comes to hiring. Majority of the staff at the university are predominantly from
the Luo community. This has not gone down well with the Abanyore community who
feel they have been left out in hiring. This has made them hostile towards the
university and everything that comes with it.
Thirdly,
there is the contention of location of Maseno Shopping center. The Abanyore community
believes that Maseno shopping center is located in the former Western province
and as such they are entitled to full benefits (read as job opportunities) that
come with it. However, this is not surprising as it seems to be the trend
across the country where the community views public institutions in their
locality as their own property rather than national institution that belongs to
all Kenyans. For instance, we heard people from coast claiming ownership of
port of Mombasa and demand that the jobs available be given the natives from
the region only. The controversy about
location of Maseno at one time affected the academic giants, Maseno High
School, who refused to take part in activities of Kisumu District claiming that
they are in Western province. Nonetheless, according to the map Maseno shopping
center is actually in Kisumu North District, Kisumu County.
Apart form the
underlying factors highlighted above, the relations between Maseno University
the community has been further complicated by the challenge of unemployment and
the poverty which seems to have fueled increase in theft cases in the area. The
university can only take so much and does not have the ability to employ the
whole community. Nevertheless, the establishment of the university in the area
opened up opportunities for the locals owing to the huge population of students
which in the eyes of business people is a huge market. The university created
opportunities in Hotel business given that the students are forbidden from
cooking in hostels, retail shops, and bodaboda
for ferrying the students across the two campuses; Siriba and College campus
which are quite a distance apart. There is an urgent need for the Maseno
University to engage the community members and try to address the concerns
raised.
