Hundreds of students from Kisii University will soon start cooking from within the hostels when a kitchenette currently under construction is completed.
Speaking on Tuesday at the site, the institution’s vice-chancellor, Prof John Akama, said the initiative will solve the impasse between students and management that has resulted in massive exodus of students from the university’s hostels due to “no cooking” policy.
The institution has been making huge losses in revenue collection since many students who were objected to the policy deserted the hostels, Akama said.
“I understand the reason why you don’t want to stay within the institution. This is why we have launched this project that will be completed soon. I expect that you will come back to the hostels and stay with us,” he said.
He said the university was undergoing massive losses following high electricity consumption by students through use of coils and other heavy appliances in the hostels.
“You find that we introduced that policy to recover a lot of money we were losing from use of heavy appliances. That is why we have resolved to build a kitchenette that will cost us almost Sh1 million,” he added.
Most students, however, vowed never to return to the hostels, citing intimidation and humiliation by the halls department as the major reason.
“Constructing this kitchenette is not enough. We want a complete overhaul in the hall’s department then we will consider coming back,” said a student, who requested anonymity due to sensitivity of the matter.