Forget the haters, I spent Sh13m on campaign, UoN student leader

Tension is brewing at University of Nairobi following the swearing of Manyara Muchui as the new University of Nairobi Students Association (UNSA) chairman. The point of contention is what a section of students claim is a stranger imposed on them by the university administration. Intensifying the conflict is the fact that students had already formed factions around six students who had already expressed interest in the top seat. About a month to elections, Hashtag ran a comprehensive feature that detailed students who had expressed their interest in the UNSA chairman position at the time. They included: Felix Apiyo, Jamal Birkan, Keno Manwar and Daphine Githuku, before others joined the race. Last Saturday, Muchui took the oath of office alongside other officials in what some claim is the biggest disgrace to the university. And now, disgruntled aspirants have moved to court seeking nullification of the election process. “This was no election at all. Manyara was the most unpopular student in the whole university. We want his election nullified,” said Apiyo. Apiyo said the swearing-in ceremony, which he said was done very early in the morning in the absence of rival candidates and students was a scam and that it was the project by the university to have its pick at the helm of the most influential student body in the country. ELECTORAL MALPRACTICES Muchui was sworn in as UNSA new chairman on Saturday, a day after elections were conducted at the university. This was after the university struck other candidates off the list, citing indiscipline and other academic-related malpractices. Apiyo was eliminated from the list of aspirants for allegedly forging documents, an allegation the third-year Biochemistry student dismissed. “Those who say I forged signatures of deans are only spreading a lie that was fabricated by the administration to strike me off the contenders’ list,” Apiyo said. Keno Manwar, on the other hand, who struck many as the most popular candidate on the list for being a first-year and a fourth-year student. Manwar could not be reached for comment on the elimination. An inside source that Hashtag spoke to said Jamal, on the other hand, was suspended. Our source who sought anonymity did not divulge the details of the suspension. The administration also found Daphine Githuku, the only female student who had joined the race unworthy. She was, allegedly, found to have missed school for three consecutive semesters, something Ms Githuku denied. “They can’t just accept the election was a sham. I am convinced that it is the institution that is propagating the malicious rumour that I missed school for three semesters. That is why we are moving to court to get to the bottom of all this,” said Githuku. FAIR WIN But speaking to Hashtag, Manyara said his election was credible and called on his opponents to accept that he had won fairly. “It is unfair that they are blaming me for falling victims to constitutional dictates. I am not the one who drafted all those constitutional requirements,” said Manyara. He said his competitors were hoping to have elections marred by injustices, but were treated to a rude shock. “They though the elections would be marred by tribal alliances as has been the case before. I think they also thought the Constitution would bend to favour them. That’s why they can’t accept their fate,” said Manyara. He faulted his competitors who said he was a novice in politics, and said he had successfully vied for position of College of Architecture and Engineering governor. He said he started rallying for support before any of the other students at the College of Architecture and Engineering, in what he said was to consolidate the three votes of the delegates at the college. “Mine was all about tactic. First, I didn’t want to spend a lot of resources campaigning and secondly, I wanted to spend as much time as possible in class while they (other aspirants) went about wasting time. He says when he felt it was the right time to announce his interest in chairman position, he sold his 15 acres piece of land in Meru and channeled the Sh13 million from the land into campaigns. The third-year Architecture student says he used only two months to rally for support in his new bid. Manyara was sworn in on Saturday, six days before the scheduled day for the UNSA elections. RUSHED SWEARING IN? Students that Hashtag spoke to said the university erred in rushing the swearing in. “When no contestant was found at Chiromo, the campus was given two days and two students showed up to vie. If the same happened at the overall student body, the commission would have gotten the right number of contestants for an election. All this rushing was just a tactic to plant their preferred student as UNSA chair,” said Kirui Gideon, a student at the university. But UoN chair of Independent Electoral Commission, Prof Mohamud Jama defended the decision to swear Manyara before the election date, saying it was constitutional. “The constitution says that if a team is nominated unopposed, then it is to be declared winner within 24 hours. Of all the contestants, only Manyara was free of any malpractices and that is why he was sworn in,” said Prof Jama. He said all the other contestants were involved in election irregularities and, therefore, were not permitted to vie. He said Apiyo had been found to have forged signatures of some deans and was struck out. According to Prof Jama, Apiyo went ahead to contest the commission’s decision in court, in an appeal the don said had been dismissed. “And henceforth, the university has barred him from contesting in elections. He is also supposed to pay a Sh50, 000 fine.” Prof Jama said the commission had on April 4, given the contestants eight days to amend them and vie but they chose not to.

Forget the haters, I spent Sh13m on campaign, UoN student leader

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