Second-year students at Kisii University today protested over a hike in fees by destroying property within the premises of the campus during the protests.
The students also destroyed the entrance to the office of the Vice-Chancellor during the protests.
In response, tear gas canisters were thrown at the protestors with the incident escalating further to the most part of the day. Students and the police also engaged in chases as the police tried to make arrests.
The decision of the institution’s administrators to hike fees by Sh 10,000 annoyed the learners who did not seem to understand the reason behind the hike in school fees.
“The issue we have with the administration is that they held a meeting in someplace and then decided to raise fees unilaterally for second years without considering financial circumstances of parents and guardians,” said one of the students.
The hike saw the school fees raised to Sh 34,000 representing a 41.7 per cent increase on the previous amount of Sh 24,000.
To prevent the police from entering the university, a destroyed sofa and a trailer were placed at the main gate blocking entry to the university.
However, the police did manage managed to enter the institution through the rear gate and managed to disrupt the protests and calm the situation.
One of the administrative officers at the university revealed that the VC will issue a press address tomorrow following fruitless attempts to reach the VC.
Leaders of the student union did not address the media over the protests.