Student leader injured in knife attack

A University of Nairobi student leader was stabbed in his room by unknown assailants early Friday.

Student Organisation of Nairobi University (Sonu) secretary general Alex Matere was attacked and suffered stab wounds on the head, stomach and hands.

His friends told the Nation Mr Matere, a political science student in fourth year, was attacked at around 3.00 a.m. by a gang of unknown people.

According to mates in the hostels, the attackers came at around 4.00 a.m. in the morning, knocked on the door, but before he could open, they forced their way in.

The students aid that the gang wore hoods and ran away when Mr Matere screamed for help.

“I heard them shout “shika yeye” (grab him), moments later he screamed. When we started opening our doors to see what was happening, the guys started to run,” a student calling himself Dan said.

He was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital but was said to be stable.

When the Nation visited his room at Lower Statehouse halls of residence later in the day, we found both dry and wet pools of blood on the floor. Some of its splashes had dried on the doors of his wardrobe.

His bedding too had dry splashes of blood and was not spread. The main door to his room on the first floor of the hostels was broken in and a worker was busy replacing it.

In the corridor immediately in front of the room was yet another mark of dry blood. 

Police later said they found pieces of papers with a mock obituary detailing “the life and times of the 35-year-old student leader.” However, the Nation could not find them when it visited the scene.

Late Friday, he was recuperating at the student sick bay at the varsity’s campus. Journalists were not allowed to interview Mr Matere.

The attack sparked protests from his supporters who marched to Vigilance House, temporarily blocking the busy Harambee Avenue. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the police were investigating the matter but had yet to get the full details.

He urged the students not to be riotous, but instead give information freely. “This will assist the police in terms of evidence to ensure that the culprits are apprehended and prosecuted,” said Kiraithe.

The irate supporters allege the attackers had been sponsored by Mr Matere’s “political opponents in Sonu” who they said had blocked his “ambitious plans for our organisations.”

In the recent weeks though, the Nation established that there have been wrangles in the student Organisation between Mr Matere and his chairman Babu Owino.

The two are said to have squabbled over the amount of money to be used in revamping the Sonu website. Mr Matere is said to have proposed Sh250,000 but the chairman insisted on a maximum of Sh40,000.

The incident is said to have led to further divisions among Sonu’s members of the Executive Committee. Some backed the chair as others supported the secretary-general.

When contacted, Mr Owino admitted that there had been a conflict between the two but said they had already ironed it out. He denied sending his supporters to attack Mr Matere.

“It is true we have been having wrangles, but we had started working out the problem. But I had no hand in that attack at all. Mr Matere has his own enemies who could still harm him under the guise of this conflict we have been having,” he said.

The organisation’s leadership was voted in in August after two previous attempts to hold student elections aborted.