Hooliganism among varsity students should be stopped

Barely does a month go by without university students causing chaos.

This habitual rioting is now the order of the day especially within Kenyan public universities. Don’t we have other meaningful ways of addressing issues? Why do university students resort to rioting and destruction of property to make their voices heard?

Sadly enough, the victims in these violent demonstrations are usually the students. Can one punch a wall and remain unhurt? By engaging anti-riot police in running battles and direct combat, students only end up hurting themselves. It is time this habit stopped.

Going by the number of fatal cases reported when students riot, there is now a need for the Government through relevant ministries and stakeholders, to step in and tame this worrying trend.

Several cases of student riots have been in the news lately.

This month, Maseno University was closed indefinitely following the killing of a student during riots. The chaos was sparked after police allegedly shot at a vehicle being used by some students for campaigns in the university elections.

In September, it was reported that at least nine students from the University of Nairobi spent a night in police cells, after they were arrested for staging violent protests in the city. The students were protesting delays in the disbursement of funds by the Higher Education Loans Board.

Earlier this year, Moi University students at the main campus in Eldoret rioted over the killing of a female student. Students blocked police from collecting the body and involved police in running battles. At least one police vehicle was torched during the riots while several students were reportedly injured.

Abuse freedom

In July, the University of Eldoret was shut down indefinitely following student riots over fee increment. Students were ordered to leave the school and property of unknown value was destroyed during the protest.

I think universities give a lot of freedom to students to choose what to do with their lives. Unfortunately, this freedom is often abused. It results in lawlessness, drunkenness, immorality, fights and riots.

The late icon, Nelson Mandela, said one cannot be free by merely casting off one’s chains, but by living in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. So, as much as students might want to exercise their freedom, they too should enhance the freedom of others.

It is important to note that by resorting to violence, these students, who are looking forward to joining the workplace, usually send a bad message to their would-be employers. Who wants an employee that would use commotion and violence in the workplace as a way of solving disputes?

It is high time the universities’ senates established laws that would guide the behaviour of their students. Any student found inciting others to violence should be arrested and charged in court.

Penalising all students to pay for damages caused by a few rioting ones only creates animosity and bitterness among them. Some are law-abiding and by ordering that they all incur the cost of damages caused by a few is in my view, insulting justice.

Every student should take individual responsibility for their actions as responsibility is the price of freedom according to Elbert Hubber.