Rethinking Tuesday's Demonstrations by UoN Students

In a twitter I posted in the afternoon of Tuesday, March 10, I remarked that "The student demo got nastier after mid-afternoon. Whispers on campus already that the PM goofed big time by condoning it without reservation."

By "without reservation" I meant that Prime Minister Raila Odinga did not caution the students, whose planned demonstration he had so enthusiastically endorsed on human rights grounds, against the acts of hooliganism which have typically accompanied such demonstrations; that is, until Prof. George Magoha became Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi (UoN) about five years ago. One of his main achievements so far as VC is that student riots and general student "lawlessness", which had dogged this university for over three decades, became a thing of the past -- somehow, mysteriously, inexplicably, almost all-of-a-sudden -- as soon as he assumed office. Many of us still shake our heads at the turn-around -- at the peace and quite that the UoN has enjoyed for the last half-decade or so, and at the "possibilities" that they make possible. The Prime Minister's thoughtless act of endorsement was going to put at risk all this, many of us feared even before the scheduled day of demonstration arrived.

Unless one is dangerously out of touch with -- or does not allow oneself a judicious pause to consider the lessons of -- the recent history of student activism at the University of Nairobi, and elsewhere in Kenya, one ought to know that student demonstrations have typically degenerated into worrisome anti-social behaviour of a sort that has impacted negatively, often very negatively, on the human and property rights of other Kenyans, who also deserve protection. The Prime Minister did not have the presence of mind, or even-handedness, to ask the police to protect these other rights -- these other Kenyans. And so Tuesday came to pass as it did.

He did not need to get involved. He should not have been involved. There is no way that the killing of a university student under whatever circumstances would be allowed by the student body to go "unpunished" by way of a rowdy demonstration in the streets, and a few missed lecture-hours besides. As soon as news of the killing broke, we knew that there would be a demo this time. It even took too long to happen. It was not spontaneous, as the moment semed to demand. Perhaps there were behind-the-scenes negotiations on campus, and there were reports of threats against would-be demonstrators. Not even a Prof. Magoha, however, has the "charm" to avoid the eventuality of a demo under those brutal circumstances. So the Prime Minister had no reason or need to publicly, or privately, "restrain" him -- with or without mandate.

Now the police are blaming the PM for the embarassing consequences, and of course he has no real, convincing defence. Student leaders even went to him to apologize and express remorse face-to-face for the bad behaviour of their colleagues on Tuesday afternoon. However, the Prime Minister is yet to express his own remorse to the Kenyans whose rights were infringed upon at his apparent instigation -- and to accept responsibility for the infringement.

Sociologists say, and leaders better be reminded, that acts of commission and acts of omission are both acts -- over which "those who have responsibility" must be held responsible. In a reverse sort of reasoning, irresponsibility confers responsibility, from which one cannot escape.
The Prime Minister deigned to take away the responsibilities of UoN and Egerton University VCs on the matter of general student discipline, though he has no mandate to micro-manage universities or issue direct instructions to the police, and must now accept responsibility for Tuesday's turn of events.

It is precisely due to those events that Prof. Magoha is reported in one of today's newspapers to have asked politicians to stay away from university affairs. I would add: they haven't been quite helpful when and where we truly needed them; for example, when(ever) we were fighting for better terms of service. Instead, they have shed obligatory and crocodile tears. "It was very sad to see them behaving that way and I hope we are allowed to run the university as we should," Prof. Maguha said, and added:

"I was a spectator like everybody else and I would prefer to get instructions
from my employer. How do I take action on those who were rioting when the
protests were sanctioned by someone with more authority than me? They should
have allowed us to take control."

Of course, Raila's diehard supporters have been arguing, none-too-soon, that his PNU opponents took advantage of the occasion by inserting thugs, thuggery and looting into the demonstrations -- all in order to "tarnish his name." That's plausible, alright, but he should have known that he was dangling a temptation they couldn't resist. He should have denied them the opportunity to do just that by staying judiciously away from forever byzantine campus politics. If you ask me, he tarnished his own name all by himself -- a flawed mind-set that has become increasingly and worryingly characteristic since the Grand Coalition was crafted in February 2008 (indeed, some of us push the date back to November 2007). The safest way to not tarnish a name is to do the right thing -- consistently, all the time, all over the place.

Ironically, as it is apparently turning out -- according to postmortem findings of three pathologists and to witness accounts reported in today's newspapers (but which must be corroborated) -- Mr. Godwin Ogato, the student (the third person) whose death more directly prompted the demonstrations, was shot at close range with a pistol; after the police (who were reportedly carrying only G3 and/or AK-47 guns) had retrieved Mr. Paul Oulu's body from the halls and "were driving away."

I think that one of the most serious threats that we encounter and endure in our public and private institutions, of all kinds, is the "Tyranny of the Boss". Just as there is a culture of impunity, there is a culture of tyranny; but it is marked as tyranny only when the shoe is on the other foot. Thus, the boss is all-knowing. The boss has all the answers. The boss is never wrong. No other opinion matters. Don't contradict the boss. The boss has a good name. To criticize the boss is to the boss' name. Leave the boss alone. Don't embarass the boss. The boss knows what he/she is doing, keep to your own corner. The end justifies the means. Give the boss time.

Prof. Magoha would like to see the UoN allowed to run its own affairs itself, from within. Fair enough, but the university is not the VC, and the VC is not the university. The VC must have the humility to acknowledge that there are many smart minds at the UoN. It is simply a fact that there are many who were here long before he joined UoN. These are long-standing bearers of the institution's memory and values -- and indeed the strengths that enabled UoN to weather the many challenges of the Eighties and Nineties, and have made it possible for it to become, at last, what it is today.

University governance, while remaining jealously "within", must itself be broadly inclusive, genuinely consultative and respectfully consensus-based. There has not been enough of that in recent years. Instead, many academics feel excluded from key decisions that deeply affect them, and administrators are intimidated (and the academic staff union apparently co-opted) into "rubber-stamp" silence.

Prof. Magoha is a good man. We get on well -- though I am inclined, as is rather well-known, to speak my mind -- partly because I keep my distance, and partly because I no longer hold an administrative position that requires frequent attendance in the VC's presence. I personally like him, and like it that way. I think he has the capacity to change. It is not too late. That way, we can all, together, meet the rest of the country halfway, with heads held high.