I’ll not leave, says ‘ousted’ Sonu leader

A Sh20 million kitty. Forty-six thousand members to control. Fame. Popularity and a chance to comment authoritatively on national issues. These are some of the perks that make candidates fight for the leadership of the Students Organisation of Nairobi University (Sonu).

Others are an opportunity to learn leadership skills and rub shoulders with high-placed personalities. Another fringe benefit is that Sonu student leaders do not pay for accommodation at the institution.

It is for these reasons that the last Sonu elections held in May 2009 were highly contested, with Mr David Osiany and Mr John Ngaruiya emerging as top contenders for the chairmanship. Mr Osiany won in the polls reminiscent of the bitter fight between PNU and ODM in the 2007 elections.

PNU kingpins

Mr Osiany was perceived as a darling of the university administration while Mr Ngaruiya was said to enjoy the support of some PNU kingpins. And just like in the current political fights in the country, a group of students allied to Mr Ngaruiya staged a coup last week, impeaching the born-again chairman.

According to seven officials led by Mr Ngaruiya and Mr Nickson Korir (secretary general) who spoke to the Nation on Wednesday, students met at a Kamukunji (informal meeting) at Freedom Corner on Tuesday last week and passed a resolution to impeach Mr Osiany over alleged poor leadership.

“The secretary general called an extra-ordinary meeting at Freedom Corner as provided in the constitution in Article 11, Section 4, and impeached Mr Osiany. The decision was passed and ratified by Parliament on Thursday,” Mr Korir said. According to Mr Korir and Mr Ngaruiya, the decision is binding if it is ratified by the students’ Parliament. They accused Mr Osiany of refusing to handover to them.

Mr Osiany’s opponents accuse him of failing to fight for the interests of a number of First Year students who recently missed accommodation and had to stay in hotels. Mr Osiany, according to his critics, also failed to respond when the administration threatened to ban cooking in the hostels and when a number of students were suspended.

“The chairman just kept mum,” Mr Ngaruiya said, adding: “We are going to organise demonstrations against the university administration in the next two weeks if they continue supporting him.” Mr Osiany termed his alleged impeachment as being invalid, saying the constitution clearly states that two thirds of the students should support it.

He rejected his opponents’ calls to vacate office, saying less than 1,000 students attended the Kamukunji and that they did not vote through secret ballot, as required. He said 30,000 of the 46,000 Sonu members are required for the no-confidence vote to be legal.

He said the Speaker and his deputy were not present on Thursday when Parliament was said to have ratified the move to send him packing. Mr Osiany denied the allegations levelled against him, saying the row in the organisation was about values and ethics.

He accused some top politicians of interfering with the Sonu leadership with the aim of supporting some members in the 2012 elections. “If this is the kind of leadership we are creating for our country, I pity our country. I prefer integrity and value-based leadership over popularity and fame,” he said.

Mr Osiany said he plans to lead University students from all over the country to plant trees in Mau in April “not as Sonu leader but young environment envoy to the UN who understands our future is meaningless without our environment.”

Address problems

Rearing to go in their presumed new roles, Mr Ngaruiya and Mr Korir said they had come up with a calendar for Sonu for the next four months and that they would hold a forum on March 19 to address problems affecting students. “The theme of the forum will be the role of universities in defeating tribalism in this country,” Mr Ngaruiya said.

The two said politicians James Orengo, William Ruto, Ochilo Ayacko, Kabando wa Kabando, Mwandawiro Mghanga, and Moses Kuria were among those to be invited.Mr Ngaruiya and Mr Korir pledged to push for government to subsidise university education, as it had done for primary and secondary schools “as our parents are also tax payers.”

Mr Osiany’s case is reminiscent of the time when lawyer Patrick Lumumba, who was the then student leader, was replaced by Mr Mwandawiro Mghanga after he was accused of doing little to promote student activism. Mr Orengo, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka, and former MP David Murathe are some of the former student leaders.