Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has questioned why Deputy President William Ruto has not reprimanded Rift Valley leaders who protested the appointment of acting Moi University vice-chancellor Prof Laban Ayiro.
Khlalwale said Ruto should break his silence over the protests and condemn the ‘primitive act’.
According to the Star, the Ford Kenya deputy party leader said it was time that the DP condemned the 'tribal conduct' of senior politicians in Rift Valley.
"It is therefore very sad that as we speak today, the Deputy President of Kenya William Ruto is quiet. Ruto must break his silence and condemn this primitive act by those leaders," he said as quoted by the Star.
Last week, Uasin Gishu Governors Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), Alex Tolgos (Elgeyo Marakwet) and several of MPs from the Rift Vally region led protests against the appointment of Prof Ayiro as acting Moi University VC.
He said universities must remain national shrines for ethnic integration.
Education CS named Prof Ayiro as acting VC and said he will not listen to politicians telling him who should be in charge at Moi University.
The senator who was addressing leaders of student organisations in Mombasa County, said universities must remain national shrine of ethnic integration.
He wants the matter addressed urgently to curb future repercussions.
"If we do not stop them now, then soon they might even demand that the students at Moi University be taught in vernacular, something that is actually not good," said Khalwale.
He urged all governors in the country to ensure that all the counties have a university, adding that he will soon sponsor a Bill in the Senate to see it come to pass.
"This being the case, we would like to see our governors, starting with the Mombasa Governor Hasan Joho, investing in cheap housing where students can stay," Khalwale said.
"University and college students must feel safe to study and stay in and around their institutions of higher learning," he noted.