Kabete Polytechnic Students Protest Over Increased School Fees

Scenes from Kabete Polytechnic on Tuesday, September 7.
Scenes from Kabete Polytechnic on Tuesday, September 7. PHOTO/@dcidavii.

Traffic was temporarily disrupted at a section along Waiyaki Way as students from the Kabete National Polytechnic took to the streets in protests.

Tens of irate students took to the streets on Tuesday, September 17 to protest against an apparent increase in school fees. Images and videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke depicted students protesting near the Kabete Police station, while some blocked a section of the busy Waiyaki Way.

Outside the institution, small fires were lit next to the road as students brought normal learning to a standstill.

Some students claimed part of the reason they were up in arms protesting was because the institution intended to impose a hefty examination fee besides the normal tuition fee.

Kabete Polytechnic students
Kabete Polytechnic students staging a protest on Tuesday, September 17. PHOTO/City Digest
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Police from the nearby Kabete Police Station were deployed to contain the situation and could be seen clearing rocks set up by the protesters off the road.

This was the second wave of protest on Tuesday, and it ran almost concurrently with one at Magadi Road involving Multimedia University students.

For a better part of Tuesday morning, students blocked the road leading up to the Bomas of Kenya in protest of poor living conditions in the school.

According to Multimedia University students, the school had a water shortage that persisted for more than a fortnight. Sections of the students also demanded the WiFi issue at the school to be fixed.

Police officers were dispatched inside the institution to restore sanity, as the situation threatened to get out of hand.

In what is now a worrying trend, it appears Kenyans, particularly the so-called Gen Z, have resolved that mass action is the only way their grievances can be heard.

Only recently, Moi University Students took to the streets to fiercely oppose the new University Funding model, which they claimed would leave a large number of them at a disadvantage.

The administration block at Moi University in Eldoret
The administration block at Moi University in Eldoret
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Moi University