A collage principal has been roughed up by students and ejected out of his office in an ongoing strike.
Kabete National Polytechnic students on Tuesday, September 17, forcibly ejected the principal, Patrick Muchemi from office and vandalized the premises.
The strike is a response to rising examination fees besides the normal tuition fee and changes to the dress code.
In images and video shared on social media, the students had lit bonfires in front of their main gate.
Some of the students blocked a section of the busy Waiyaki Way leading to the school.
Police from the nearby Kabete Police Station were deployed to contain the situation, clearing rocks placed on the road by the protesters.
This marked the second wave of protests on Tuesday, occurring almost simultaneously with another demonstration on Magadi Road by Multimedia University students.
Multimedia University students held demonstrations on Tuesday morning over water scarcity in campus.
According to the students, they have gone for days without water in the hostels and other parts of the institution.
Having issued their strike notice to the administration last Thursday, the students made good their threat on Tuesday morning.
Earlier, staff and students struggled to put out a fire in one of the hostels as the protests continued.
Anti-riot police officers who were deployed at the institution engaged in fierce back and forth with the students who demanded better sanitation and welfare.
Student leader Naomi Oketch told the media that the administration has remained silent despite their repeated pleas for assistance.
“We resorted to going on strike because our calls to the administration went unanswered,” she said.
Other issues raised by the students include the lack of electricity within the hostels, broken sockets, and lack of wifi connectivity which they claimed has immensely hampered their learning activities.
“Some hostels have dysfunctional sockets, while others lack study chairs. We’ve raised these concerns, but no one has responded to our cries for help,” the students said.
The students also faulted lack of seats for students within the hostels, a situation causing inconvenience.
On the other hand, the university administration issued a statement clarifying that the water shortage at the institution was as a result of a damaged main water pipe that affected the regular flow of water to the university.
