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The trend of male university students romping with women from surrounding villagers is back.
The recent case in which a third year student at Maasai Mara University was clobbered for studying the ‘carnal knowledge’ of a villager’s wife may just be the tip of the iceberg.
The said student was beaten and left for dead forcing students to go on rampage in solidarity with their toy boy brother. This however is not an isolated case after it emerged that various universities across the country are grappling with the problem. S
ome of the issues contributing to the shocking trend is the stinging accommodation crisis that has seen students rent houses in the villages near the campuses.
Maasai Mara Vice Chancellor Mary Walingo however blames it all on breakdown in our value system — and what she refers to as ‘the sponsor thing’. This is where young people fear commitment and responsibilities, opting for older women and vice versa. She called for a re-look into our education system with a view of entrenching good values in the syllabus to address some of the issues.
“Our values and culture is broken and this has not helped young people. In India, they have entrenched some of these values in the syllabus so that young people are aware of them at a very tender age,” she said.
She also urged parents to take parenting seriously and not to leave everything in the hands of teachers.
Robert Otieno, a second year student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, who lives in Juja town says: “It is difficult to date even a first year student. They are all taken by sponsors. They say we are too broke.”
Patrick Otama, a boda boda rider from Narok, has a word of caution for students: “They should not come in the village and start bragging like they own the world to lure our wives. This is like playing with death.”
It’s not just boys. In 2014, the body of a first year female student of Maasai Mara University was found hidden in her boyfriend’s house in Migori town.
