In the late 70s and early 80s, there began a very frosty relationship between the former president moi and nairobi university students. Back from a trip to India,Moi made a skathing attack on the nairobi students that as compared to the hardworking students of India, kenyan students were good for nothing and knew only how to drink and read newspapers in River road. A few days after that, the students baricaded a presidential motorcade along state house road shouting "GO BACK TO INDIA" "RIVER ROAD," something that moi did not take kindly even after promising the students an increament on their allowances. A few days before, moi had visited kenyatta university and had lunch with students in their catering unit. From thence,one hostility between moi and the students led into another culminating into mwakenya, and many other anti government publications that saw many continuing and former students dragged into courts and charged with treason. After my graduation in 1981,the situation turned tragic when students turned out in large numbers in support of the coup by the kenya army when several students were arrested alongside the soldiers and charged. Among those arrested were two design students from ADD, Titus Adungosi and his friend and classmate George. Adungosi was a born again christian,soft spoken,he never drank or smoked. He joined the design department when i was in second year and by the time i graduated, i had not noticed any leftist leaning in him. I was very surprised when i learnt after my graduation that Adungosi had been elected as a student leader. During the moi era the only visible oposition to the moi government came from the university students and their lecturers, willy mutunga and anyang nyongo,ngugi wa thiongo, with others like mukaru nganga etc. For the first time in the universities history,the university was closed in 1979 to the early eighties with the students sent home to go and eat beans as the late stanley olei tip tip put it. These closures heightened the hostilities thereon
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:57:46 +0000
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