KU Strike

I read somewhere that when former UN secretary general came to Kenya in 2008 to try and resolve the PEV crisis, he was genuinely sorry for Raila Odinga as he clearly could see that the man was hurting after his election victory was stolen, however his feelings for Raila were neutralized by the violence , death and destruction in most parts of the Rift Valley. He was reportedly saddened by the plight of the displaced people, the children burnt in churches and many other unimaginable acts. In short The violence meted by Raila's supporters mainly in Rift Valley sanctified Kibaki's heartless robbery of the 2007 election.

Last night when I heard of KU's strike, I felt like getting some good prime time to give those kids a lesson or two on life ,responsibility and how to manage conflicts. I wanted to tell them that their disagreements with their administration have nothing to do with innocent Kenyans using the busy Thika road to and from work. I wanted to tell them that no employer was interested in people who fought each time they disagreed with others. I was angry! But this evening I have seen very disturbing footage of the response of policemen on the riot and how they beat the defenseless students with abandon. the students were already seated in submission but the men in uniform went on hitting them with clubs like millet! The screams for mercy from the poor young men and women cut through my heart like a razor. The were then frog matched in two rows into a waiting lorry. In fact this team was not rioting, they were hiding in the womens hostel. (most probably from their other colleagues)

This picture immediately sanctified the actions of the students. Its now difficult for me to condemn them. They sinned yes. But was this the best response. In fact what I know is that in a university, the people who strike are often less than 10% of the population. Its therefore very wrong to let the whole population suffer such miseries for the belligerence of a few.

On another note, I have always asked myself why Universities must be headed by academicians. These people are in the best, book worms, research experts and basically people with little or no social skills. In fact back in college we used to see how they used to even struggle with such mundane issues as handling relationships and emotions and enough girls and their boy friends were penalized for turning down advances from lecturers or uplifted for playing ball. I used to see that as an example of poor social and people skills. Mainly due to too much isolation to focus on academics.

I therefore concluded that the administration of the institutions would be best left to industry professionals. who understand a thing or two about market dynamics, human and social trends and plain business management.