Moi University incident casts doubt on Kenya's core values

Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago and other leaders at a meeting with workers at Moi University in Eldoret on September 20, 2016. The leaders vowed to disrupt the institution’s graduation slated for September 22 and 25 unless Prof Isaac Kosgey was appointed the institution's vice-chancellor and demanded that all casual workers be employed on a permanent basis. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Is it possible that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and arms of government that should deal with matters such as the incitement we saw at Moi University are the problem?
  • When shall we ever see an individual or individuals prosecuted for behaviour that brings our national values into disrepute?

Typical of our Kenyan style, the just-concluded week was not without its own share of drama. The appointment of Professor Laban Ayiro to act as Vice-Chancellor of Moi University generated quite some heat with local politicians threatening to disrupt the graduation ceremony scheduled for last Friday. From the looks of things, they were hellbent on getting a member of their community appointed to that position. They even argued that someone they knew from that community had scored better during the recruitment process.

Now from what we know, there is a laid- down procedure for such recruitment and, from what we hear from the relevant Cabinet Secretary, that procedure was followed. Even as they fought, the said politicians did not say that the appointed man did not qualify. Neither did they address the question of whether or not procedure had been followed. They just wanted a man from their community which, in my humble view, is a dangerous indicator of who we should be as a national community.

There are, in my thinking, certain services that have a sacred aura about them and which must not be politicised under whatever circumstances. Education and health are such services. The moment we begin to regard the tribe of the person who will run educational institutions or deal with the medical condition of a sick person, then we are in deep trouble as a society. Subjecting the provision and administration of higher education to the whims of politicians would be a serious mistake.

A TENDENCY

In recent times, there has been a tendency by locals to impose leadership wherever a public university is located. To say the very least, this is a dangerous trend that should be firmly dealt with. University education is, after all, about universal knowledge. What is this move towards limiting it? Our tribal tendencies will hurt our progress where it matters if we carry on like this. That Moi University incident is a negative statement about our national values. We, indeed, have a long way to go.

The chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission did well to remind those politicians that they were overstepping their mandate and misleading citizens. Every Kenyan citizen is protected by the Constitution to live and work anywhere within the Republic of Kenya. Is it possible that this commission and the other arms of government that should deal with matters such as the incitement we saw at Moi are the problem?

When shall we ever see an individual or individuals prosecuted for behaviour that brings our national values into disrepute?

Fr Dominic Wamugunda is dean of students, University of Nairobi.