Following a student riot, the main campus of Kenya’s Meru University of Science and Technology in Tigania, Meru County, has been shut down indefinitely.
On Monday, March 6, the University Senate convened to discuss what they should do next after students took to the streets.
The Senate closed the University indefinitely in response to the turmoil, and all students were ordered to leave all university campuses immediately, according to a memo from the Senate.
The Senate also postponed until further notice the tenth graduation, which was due to take place on March 11.
On Monday morning, the rioting students engaged the police in running battles while burning down a private vehicle.
According to reports, students protested in the streets to call for Prof. Romanus Odhiambo, the vice chancellor who had been placed on leave due to “poor performance,” to be reinstated.
According to reports, the protests started on Sunday night and continued until Monday morning.
The Meru-Maua Road business district as well as the adjoining Nchiru and Kianjai marketplaces were both impacted by the disturbances.
Meru University VC sacked
The Meru University of Science and Technology council declined to renew Vice Chancellor Romanus Odhiambo’s five-year contract.
The council further sent him on terminal leave, stating that he had performed below expectations. In a letter, Odhiambo was informed that the council was not convinced by his performance to be granted another five years at the helm of the institution.
“The university council, in its meeting held on February 27, 2023, evaluated your performance and found it to be below expectations. Therefore, the council declined to renew your contract as requested in your letter dated 20th December 2022,” chairman Prof Bosire Mwebi says in a letter dated February 27, 2023.
The council warned that he was only permitted to transact on personal matters for the time being until a replacement is found.
He would then go on terminal leave for 121 days as the new VC gets settled in at the institution of higher learning.
