DON’T HOLD BACK, WE ARE STILL CAPABLE TOGETHER

By Matthew Nyang'or

Often when we, comrades, face obstacles in our day to day life in our institution, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others are facing or have to face. Let’s take the past and bury it to create an enabling space for the present to engulf it and take a chance to make a wise choice.

Let’s all know that we are still capable of overcoming our challenges. The change (we want) that seems impossible can be realized by our own determination and persistence to cultivate our thoughts and minds to judge what is right for us and make it practical no matter the odds.

It is important to accomplish certain things like managing the accommodation crisis, handling comrades HELB issues, letting comrades know about the University academic schedule to enable proper planning, developing proper ways of rewarding class reps for their contributions to lecture coordination, incorporating the special needs students among others. This will create a better environment for academic improvement.

For the above issues to be tackled, it calls for us to accept that there is a gap that needs to be filled; one that will mark the beginning of the change we want, because we all need positive transformation by all the stakeholders concerned.

It calls for listening and mutual understanding of comrades’ needs. That is when we will find peace of mind to advocate for the change we want. All our dreams can come true; if we only have the courage to pursue them.

We can never truly know what we’re capable of until we give it a try.

STUDENTS IRATE OVER POWER INTERRUPTION

By Ednah Ombaso

Students residing on the 3rd floor of Hostel K were involved in a conflict with the janitor and electrician on Tuesday over persistent power interruptions in their wing.

The students, who sought to take matters into their hands, claimed that it had been almost two months since they reported the matter to the janitor. The janitor, who was confused on what to do, told the students that the problem would be resolved as soon as funds were allocated. “The university has no funds to cater for the problem, but we have been asked to wait until the budget is read”, said the janitor.

It was reported that power goes off as soon as one person in that wing begins to cook or do other chores using power. Even charging a phone is a problem. Most are forced to cook late at night when people have retired to bed and wake as early as 4 am to heat water up or prepare breakfast. “Mtu ka mimi huamka 3 am kupika na kusoma sababu najua masaibu ya hii power!” exclaimed one resident.

After a number of questions from the students, the irate electrician left the venue without repairing the switch. The residents insisted that they needed action. “I wonder how we will survive na venye exam imekaribia,” said another lady. The power situation is yet to be rectified.

THE LAPTOP SYNDROME

By Timothy Otieno

The moment I walked into the gates of this “esteemed” (a debatable title to use for this place) university on 11th July 2011, I knew I’d meet beautiful ladies; many in number than I had ever seen in my entire adolescent life. What I didn’t realize then was that merely seeing them was not the issue. 

The elephant in the room was whether I had found an appropriate match to meet my standards (Yes! drop the look ladies, we men do have specifications as well…and just a heads up ladies, if you can’t cook and you snore like a pig at night you really rank low on the quality scale and highly on the ‘Chips funga-type’ scale). Anyway, let’s proceed with the issue at hand. There’s a syndrome that I got introduced to once I settled in well at this campus. 

This has been predominantly effected our female colleagues, the most affected lot being male individuals who lack a certain electronic gadget. Forget having HELB money in your back pocket to woo the ladies, these days things are digital my friend! If you do not possess an up-to-date laptop model, forget your chances of nailing a beautiful campus diva! Ask me, I know. Now I do not entirely lack ownership of a laptop myself but let’s just say my device may have been around during the time of the birth of the great explorer Vasco Da Gama! 

I recently approached an admirable lady who for defamation reasons I’ll choose to call “Cleopatra”. Now, Cleopatra (not her real name), or Cleo if you choose, had all the features of a divine entity. She was godly and attended church regularly and her chapos were the best I’d ever tasted in this campus…za Kwa Chela hazitoshi mboga! I had unleashed my most valued pick-up line. The arrows of love and affection were shooting at her direction. So one evening out of nowhere she asked “By the way, Timo uko na laptop?” I was a bit puzzled but slyly answered “Ndio niko nayo.”


She requested that I give her the gadget for the night and of course I did. When I showed her the laptop, I will never forget the look in her eyes! It’s like I had shown her the body of the risen Christ! As my nature dictates, I usually ask a lot of questions so I sought to find out what was the issue. She politely said she had assignments to do and did not even take my laptop. Several days later and a series of unanswered phone calls led me to seek information on what I might have done. That’s when a couple of my fourth year friends introduced me to the phenomenon – the laptop syndrome!

I got to know that lately in campus, chicks fall for dudes with laptops and if you don’t have one, or like me have an outdated one, then pole kwako!!! Many ladies like this gadget because it helps them unwind and provide a source of entertainment after a day of classes (as if we their ‘boyfriends’ cannot undertake that task without the help of a device!) If you are looking at your situation and there’s no chance you’re getting a laptop soon, fret not! 

Free laptops are soon to be handed to our younger brothers and sisters in class one, courtesy of the Jubilee government. We can just take those ones from them. After all, if you ask me, it’s the campus peeps that are in need of laptops rather than our toddler siblings who can barely hold a pen in the right manner.

So, ladies suffering from ‘The Laptop Syndrome’, we are eagerly waiting to join the league of those that have laptops. You are going to have no choice but to tag along with us as the Samsung laptops the government will give out will most likely fall into our possession.

The writer is a Third Year Journalism student.

DIASPORA, THE FORGOTTEN

By Kinyua Njeri

A lot has been said about students who live at Stage and its environs. Though other hostels have got problems too, residents of the diaspora must be the university’s most unfortunate lot. This is the forgotten group indeed!

In the last fortnight, residents of Blue Gates, Comfort, Forest View and other ‘satellite’ hostels have persistently experienced dark nights (and dark days too). It all started when those living in VeeCam were evicted from the then prestigious hostel after a prolonged electric blackout. They were then allocated rooms in Comfort, a ladies’ hostel by then. 

Though many found it favourable, I never got the logic behind the whole issue. What was easier to do? Or better still, which was the best solution to the problem? Evicting the students or repairing the faulty circuit? Though logic would have definitely favoured the latter, the administration had a higher affinity for the former.
The students thought their problem had found a lasting solution until the now horn-grown KPLC (Euphemists will call it Kenya Power) found it sound to repair a faulty transformer. To my amazement, it took two weeks to repair a circuit, all in vain. Once again, the students cursed things they couldn’t see. The university had taken them from boiling soup to the fire itself!

The rooms had no hint of electricity. Hard water from the filthy wells was not nutritious enough to see them through. Those who HELB ‘disliked’ had nothing in exchange for Chela’s cookies. They simply had to relive the forty-days-in-the-wilderness experience!
When the good managers noted it, they had another awesome idea. Everybody was given an ultimatum to clear from the rooms within countable hours. 

With the great submissive nature of our Moi student hood, all reactions were internally displayed.

Demoralized murmurs could be heard here and there. What was beyond belief is that none of them had a clue of where to go. All they had been told to do was clear from the rooms and get others elsewhere. 

That is definitely not right. It can never be right to displace a person from his residence without giving him a better or similar alternative.
As usual, our good old MUSO had nothing to offer, neither the hope they orate when they have nothing to say nor the technical appearance they make to prove to students that they still exist. Being a hostel-far-away-from-school, little attention was given. The victims murmured curses that did not go beyond their bitter glottis.

They had nothing but bitterness to swallow. No student leader, not even the mouthy ones, dared to address the obstinacy of the issue.
But can a full MUSO official, elected by comrades to serve for a single academic year, but serving a bloated tenure of two full academic years aided by the unpredictable calendar and enjoying the opulence of an embezzled MUSO kitty in a self-contained room in Eldoret town, find the time or energy to present student grievances? He’s simply too busy for that. 

That’s why they will hold Kamukunjis then literally run away from us. They know how to ignite tension but are totally illiterate to manage it. Though they were able to convince voters with envisioned ideas during the crossfire, they confused many with the eloquent lies.

Now, the centre cannot hold anymore and therefore, things are falling apart. How comes almost all of the hostels in the diaspora lack electricity? Who has ever heard of such a coincidence? Moi arise!

The writer is a 2nd Year Literature Student.