Embakasi Member of Parliament (MP) has vowed to join in and even mobilize university students from all counties across the country to protest against hiking university fees.
Babu Owino was speaking during a homecoming party held for Luanda MP Dick Maungu in Vihiga County. Owino said that students should be willing to fight for their rights. However, he did not give any assurances about whether the protests would be peaceful.
Azimio leaders have urged the government to reconsider its decision to hike university tuition fees from Kes. 16,000 to Kes. 48,000. The decision was made following removing Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Subsidies.
The Embakasi MP’s statement comes in response to the fee hiking decision as he believes that students have to take matters into their own hands and ensure that their rights are protected.
Besides, Babu Owino spoke about the current high cost of living in the country, which in his view, has the capacity to produce enough food to sustain its population. He said that Kenya has to begin investing in irrigation to achieve this goal. He added that relying on rain is not the best option.
The Embakasi Mp implored President William Samoei Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration to look for sustainable ways of funding public universities and appointing managers based on their ability instead of using tribal lines.
The Azimio coalition has taken a strong stance against plans to triple university fees saying that they oppose the move in totality.
Instead, the Azimio coalition believes that the government should come up with a funding model that is fair and sustainable for universities and ensure that the appointment of university managers is based on an individual’s ability instead of tribal affiliations.
The coalition’s call for a fair sustainable model of the funding model for universities is seen by many Kenyans as the better option towards many people’s ability to access quality education.