NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ministry of Education Promises Talks with UoN Students as Accommodation Protest Heats Up
The Ministry of Education has promised to hold talks with the University of Nairobi (UoN) students following a heated protest over what learners are calling an “outrageous” hike in accommodation fees.
On Monday, July 21, scores of students marched to Jogoo House—home of the Ministry of Education—demanding immediate government intervention over the increase in university housing costs.
According to the students’ petition, the cost of accommodation has ballooned from Ksh 6,000 in 2021 to a jaw-dropping Ksh 43,000 today. And they’re not taking it quietly.
Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Inyangala responded to the protest with a promise: the Ministry is ready to talk.
“We want to encourage the students to come to the table,” she said. “Our experience has been that when we bring the student leaders to the table, we always resolve these issues very amicably.”
Inyangala noted that past engagements with student leaders have proven fruitful and expressed optimism that open dialogue could break the current impasse before it disrupts the academic calendar.
But on the students’ end, patience is running thin.
Speaking on behalf of the UoN student council, Chairperson Patrick Owino said they’ve tried resolving the issue internally—but hit a wall.
“We have now submitted a petition to the Education PS and she promised that they are going to act on it,” Owino told reporters. “Our expectation is very simple: by the time the first years are being admitted, the accommodation fee should have been reduced.”
The council isn’t just rallying for current students. They’re urging first-year students to delay reporting until the issue is addressed, signaling the growing scope of unrest at Kenya’s oldest and most prestigious university.
Beyond accommodation costs, the students also want the university to establish a fully functional university council—something they say has been long overdue. Their message is clear: resolve these issues quickly, or brace for citywide disruption.
“If nothing changes, we’ll take to the streets again. This time, we’ll shut down the CBD,” one student leader warned, threatening to paralyze transport and business operations in the Nairobi Central Business District if their grievances are ignored.
The Ministry, for its part, has not given a specific timeline for convening the talks, but officials indicate that plans are underway to initiate dialogue before the situation escalates further.
For now, it’s a standoff: students holding firm on their demands, and the government promising discussions—but with the clock ticking fast toward a larger crisis.
