TUK students clash with police in the streets of Nairobi

Chaos erupted at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) as students took to the streets to protest the indefinite closure of the institution, which has been halted for three weeks.

The situation quickly escalated into violent clashes between students and police, with officers firing tear gas canisters to disperse the students who had blocked Haile Selassie Avenue.

The students are demanding the immediate resumption of classes, which was disrupted by a strike from staff members.

They are urging both the university management and the striking UASU and KUSU unions to expedite their negotiations and bring an end to the stalemate.

“The University closed indefinitely three weeks ago, we started our semester last year, September and upto now the semester is still going on and we have not sat for our exams we are demanding that the school be reopened and the Ministry of Education, Parliament and whoever is concerned should take responsibility for whatever is happening. If it is to probe the management and the council, let them take responsibility we want to go back to class,” Students' Union SG Raphael Oguk said.

“We are here to stand in solidarity with our comrades from TUK who have been out of class for a very; long time. Our call goes to the government, the Ministry of Education that we demand the opening of TUK,” CUEA Students' Union President Fridah Kemunto added.

In frustration, the students voiced concerns that the prolonged closure has severely disrupted their education, leaving them idle while their parents continue to sacrifice to pay their tuition fees.

They have now threatened to stage more demonstrations until the government addresses their grievances.

“Next Thursday we are going to have a mother of all demonstrations here at the CBD so that the Ministry considers opening TUK and gives us the guidelines before,” Students' Union Academic Secretary Pascal Juma stated.