Bandari Maritime Academy students have Thursday protested over what they termed as exorbitant fees, poor management, lack of sea time and delays in issuing of the Seafarer’s Identification Document (SID).
The students disrupted learning two days after Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho promised to resolve their grievances.
The unrest slowly snowballed into a full crisis after the students’ lit bonfires using palm tree logs, barricading the road leading to the institution.
It took the intervention of Anti-Riot Police Officers, who arrived in the nick of time, to remove the logs and disperse the students.
The students vowed to go on with their strike until their grievances were addressed while lamenting that, even after CS Joho directed the management to engage them in a bid to find a solution, they have not called for a meeting.
The protest disrupted learning at the premier maritime institution and the students now plead with CS Hassan Joho to intervene and resolve the matter before learning resumes.
A student pursuing a Diploma in Maritime Transport logistics, Blessed Balesa, says the school should place students on attachment without charging a dime and attachment letters to be issued even if the students have not paid school fees in full.
The students further claimed that the students participating in the demonstrations were being threatened that they will not get jobs upon completion of their courses.
“We are not tired. We will not tire anytime soon so we are persisting that we must be heard,” Alice Ochieng, one of the students, said.
“During our Monday demonstrations, the police came and threw tear canisters on us. We were more than 400 students but today we are fearless and we must be heard,” added another student, Emmanuelle Mutua.
By Gesimba Gloria
