Technical University of Mombasa students riot

By Fred Kai and Murimi Mutiga

Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) students on Wednesday morning (September 18) took to the streets to protest against what they termed as punitive academic policies introduced by the institution.

The students lit bonfires at Buxton, consequently, barricading roads leading to the coastal city’s central business district.

Anti-riot police were, however, deployed to the scene to restore order. Teargas was hurled at the hundreds of students, who scampered in all directions.

A relative calm has since resumed, with traffic flowing on the busy route.

At least 20 students, who took part in the protests, have been arrested.

One of the contested laws introduced by the university following a September 12 Senate Board of Examiners meeting says that “a student who fails in any course unit(s) at supplementary examination shall retake the course unit(s). Such a student shall not be allowed to proceed to the next academic year of study”.

The law on what can lead to the discontinuation of students also rubbed a section of the learners the wrong way.

“A student who retakes and fails supplementary for more than three academic years in the school of engineering and technology or two academic years in the schools of business, humanities and social sciences, applied and health sciences and institutes of computing and informatics shall be discontinued,” the Senate Board of Examiners said in an internal memo to all students at TUM through the Registrar Academic Affairs Dr Paul Gichuhi.