A group of Kisii University students has moved to the high court in bid to block student union elections scheduled for November 7 under the certificate of urgency.
In their submission, the 36 students, most of whom were aspirants of various positions, accuse the university’s vetting committee of discrimination, opaqueness and inconsistency in the nomination process.
They say that they were not fully involved in the vetting process and hence want the exercise declared null and void. The committee expunged their name from eligible candidates on grounds of not gaining the academic threshold of 60 points as dictated by the constitution.
“While it is true that we had problems in the transcripts, it is wrong to put blame on us since that is an administrative issue,” said one candidate who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They accused the administration of conspiracy to block candidates who are perceived as anti-administration.
“We had been cleared by our respective faculties hence I think the management has an issue with some of us,” argued the candidate.
This comes few months after students went rampage over the alleged fee hike by the management besides what they termed as ‘maladministration’ by the university authority.
Four student leaders were suspended before they were reinstated by parliamentary committee on education after finding no concrete evidence to incriminate them.
However, Electoral Commission chairman Simon Mokaya has defended the vetting committee, saying it acted in the spirit of the union’s constitution.
“I think the law is clear. You must meet the academic requirement,” said Mokaya.
Meanwhile, campaigns have gained momentum with cleared candidates traversing in all campuses to woo voters.
Official campaigns ends on Thursday before students make their decision on Friday.