KUSU condemn the arrest and harassment of their members at Maside Muliro University

The Kenya Universities Staff Union has condemned the arrest and mistreatment of its leaders staging a strike by police officers.

This comes after five staff of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in Kakamega were arrested and taken to Kakamega Central police station following a strike on Friday last week.

The leaders termed the act by Vice Chancellor Prof. Fredrick Otieno and the police as barbaric as there are clear dispute resolution mechanisms that should be followed in cases of dispute between an employer and the employees.

“We protest and condemn this barbaric act of cowardice because globally, industrial disputes are employer-employee matters with a clear dispute resolution mechanism complete with a concise judicial arbitration procedure,” said the KUSU Secretary General, Dr. Charles Mukhwaya.

Dr. Mukhwaya also faulted Prof. Otieno’s act of calling in police officers on his staff as backward and an affront and blatant violation of the Constitution of Kenya and a stark reminder of yester years when police were misused to trample upon and silence critics of authorities.

“To call police to intimidate, harass and arrest innocent workers peaceably exercising their constitutional rights and demanding adherence to the rule of law is an act of provocation that can easily lead to industrial conundrum.

That some of our police officers are known to be trigger happy, the decision to allow them on campus was most mundane and uncalled for since there was no known security threat to either citizens or property. Therefore it is despicable and preposterous for a person of vice chancellor to misuse/misapply security personnel in a country where insecurity is a national disaster,” he added.

The striking university staff cited harassment, unfair resignation, selective implementation of the 2012/2013 collective bargaining agreement, biased deployment and delayed promotions, skewed elevations and punitive transfers among other concerns contained in a memo as some of the grievances they wanted to present to the university’s Vice Chancellor Fred Otieno.

Prof Sammy Kubasu, Robinson Oduma (UASU MMUST Chapter Chairman), Onzere Mulongo (Kusu MMUST Chair), Aggrey Osogo (Kusu National Deputy Secretary) and Cosmas Ruto were some of the university union staff who were arrested.

However, on learning about the arrest, Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale stormed the police station demanding the release of those in custody. They were released on the same night.