University students threaten to strike over fee hikes

Students in Kenyan public universities issued a warning to the government over an impending strike. The strike, which they call the 'Mother of all strikes' was alluded to by the student leaders. They demand withdrawal of a statement by the Education Cabinet Secretary that university fees might be raised.

They said attempts to seek audience with the Education Cabinet Secretary bore no fruit as he could not avail himself.

The press conference was organized by the the Kenya University Students Organization with those in attendance including Members of Parliament.

The MP for Kiharu, Irungu Kang’ata echoed their cries saying that a raise in university fees would effectively lock out needy students. He promised to mobilize other parliamentarians to block the move by the government. He also said he would push for the disbandment of HELB citing poor management that kept needy students from benefiting.

Meanwhile, Babu Owino, the Chairman of Students Organization of Nairobi University, said that they were organizing a strike on Tuesday 20th May to demand  a 50 percent fee cut and a raise in HELB loan amount from the current Sh60,000 to Sh100,000.

A stalemate may rise since the HELB chief had earlier announced a potential reduction in the loans awarded to students by up to 25,000.

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