Students from Machakos University are currently engaging police officers in a running battle.
The ‘comrades’ as they call themselves have taken to Machakos streets demonstrating against what they claimed delayed Helb disbursements.
They took to the streets on Thursday morning forcing some traders within the town to close shops.
Police have since been engaging the demonstrators to ensure the safety of other residents and their property.
The officers lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the students, leading to the closure of the Machakos – Wote road on which the varsity is located.
Police blocked the road as a strategy to bar the students from taking their protests to Machakos town’s central business district which might lead to the destruction of property.
The student’s rampage comes a year after they engaged police officers in a similar cat-and-mouse battle that led to the death of some of their colleagues and a police officer.
They were demonstrating against the then-high insecurity in some of the estates they lived in.
The situation forced the then Vice Chancellor Prof. Lucy Irungu to indefinitely close the institution.
Irungu on December 7, 2022, announced the varsity’s closure following heightened student unrest.
She made the closure announcement through an internal memo circulated to students and varsity staff.
"Due to the evolving insecurity situation around the university and the ongoing students' demonstrations, a special meeting convened on December 7, 2022, resolved that in the interest of the security of staff and students, the university be closed with immediate effect," the memo read in part.
