Varsity post issue two by Edwin Mogere

OCT/DEC 2011 ISSUE 2 VOL 1

A Chuka University Communication and Media publication

Recklessness for the love of money (Continued from page 11) Then again, ‘love of money’ has deep roots. Once I was travelling from Embu to Chuka, and I boarded a matatu that had this sticker on the rear-view mirror that read, “mapenzi ya matatu, gari wanne wanne kama PK” (loosely translated as ‘four per bench is the order of the day’). Sadly for the natives of Chuka,

the drivers of the said matatus acknowledge this ‘rule’. I complained a couple of times about the overloading but then came the silencer: “lazima tupate chakula” (‘we must get our daily bread’). Recently I saw passengers disembark from the boot of a taxi and thought, ‘this love of money is getting out of hand!’

Greenlit Days Ahead? Inside

• Back to school after Nyayo House dungeons • Scrap 8-4-4? • Academic crime notes • Culture week pictorial • More...

Dear Readers,

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: G. N. King’ara

he second Issue of the Varsity Post since its inception in May 2011 is out. A publication produced by Media and Communication students in conjunction with their lecturers and other students in Chuka University College, the Post’s aim has been to mould young writers so that they may competitively ﬁt in print journalism and other areas of writing. I’m grateful to everyone who made this second Issue of Varsity Post a success. There were many hurdles: the long college vacation took away the regular major players in this project. Also, publishing funds. Nevertheless, the dream to publish again this semester has come true thanks to some enthusiastic members of the business community in Chuka. These people have expressed enough trust to advertise their goods and services through our magazine. We thank them for their unshakable support. I’m also humbled to express my gratitude to our esteemed readers for their loyalty. Thank you for disqualifying the adage ‘a prophet is not welcomed in his own village’. You have not underestimated what your brothers and sisters within the university precincts can produce. Unlike in Issue One, more work has been incorporated in this one. Conributors honed their skills and competently expressed their ideas. Consequently,

EDITORIAL BOARD John Karanja, Edward Okana, David Kimani, Andrian Nduru, Munene Kamau, Rose Kimani, George Ngugi King’ara

pieces featured here touch on several walks of life. They range from inspiration, transport and virtual relationships to first-handinformation-based-works. One such worthwhile piece tells of the suffering of the victims of the 1980s detentions in Nyayo House, and how one of the victims reclaimed his life and is attending currently university. It is worth mentioning that contributors of articles for publication in this magazine is not confined to writers within Communication and Media. Any well written articles are welcome. On behalf of the editorial board, I would like to request authors whose articles did not appear in this Issue not to despair but to keep on writing. Their works could be featured in up-coming Issues of Varsity Post. .Thank you very much for promoting us

David G. Kimani, Managing Editor

Inside the blues quarters

Using an unfortunate minor crime personal experience, Kelvin Magiri ponders police reform.

CONTRIBUTORS Michael Ogutu, Allan Mwangi, Edward Okana, Grace Mbogo, Patrick Munene, Andrian Nduru, Rose Kimani LAYOUT Designer: G. N. King’ara ADVERTISING SALES Rose Kimani, Mkuzi Dingo, Edwin Mogere PHOTOGRAPHY Andrian Nduru, John Karanja, Edwin Mogere, Simon Obuya, Ngugi King’ara, Nyakio Kimani QUALITY CONTROL Rose Kimani

The thrills and falls of drunkeness in Chuka Town

PUBLISHED BY Chuka University Journalism Club With Communication & Media , Chuka University College

was for ‘Yes’ vote during the Kenya Constitution amendment referendum, mostly for the concept of regime change and development policies enveloped in the proposed constitution. Imagine a book (or booklet) designed to tell us what to do and how to do it… a demi-god I presume. Yes, thanks to this book, I now see some light. I can’t tell really tell you what chapter or clause entails issues relating to the police department but I know for sure that my ‘demi-god’ will work wonders on policing once it is fully functional. Why am I concerned with the police department? I was robbed of all my wallet paraphernalia Friday last week in a very grave incident that involved much tussle between me and eight blokes. It was late at night, I accept, but that does not give anyone the right to thuggery! I was under the influence, alright, but to rob me in a urinal for Christ’s sake! ‘Ngetaring’ an innocent Kenyan? Aaaih! Two days after the urinal incident, I set my foot for the first time at a police station to report the loss of my ATM, identity, voters and registration cards so that I could obtain a police abstract. And to report that the thugs had robbed me of my phone too. My very expensive one, that ka blackberry I used to flosia chicas with? Anyway, the police station… The outer section is made of iron sheets, donated, surprisingly by a private investor by the name of … I will that out. It has two customer care or reception desks, where three officers fully dressed to match the no- nonsense tone of the office sit. On entering the reception, immediately your eyes are greeted by a poster hanging in front of you. It reads, “if you are not served within 15 minutes request to see the OCS”. My first question on seeing this message was whether the person who wrote it ever imagined a situation where a client would be alone with the officers at the desk idling around, as if it is not always the case that there’s always a person reporting an incident in a police station. I took my seat at the waiting bench since I had found two men at the desk reporting some serious black eye beating. The funniest part of the whole case was the way in which the dude who had received the beating was dressed—black shades, pipe jeans… He eventually lowered his shades for show, and to the shock of all of us in the room, his was a case of some real black eye beating. I judged him for exposing himself to such misfortune. But shame on me for attempting to remove the speck on the dude’s eye while I

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had a log in mine. For a moment, I forgot my troubles till it dawned on me why I was seated there. The men took their time with the cop at the desk. I was actually perturbed by the amount of cash the dude who was attacked carried as affidavit, since the Occurrence Book (OB) desk cop took some time—long enough to flood the Sahara—in the calculations. Then they were out. I gravely cannot recall a moment in my life that I had ever humbled my proud self to that level—except maybe for the time when I was taking my driving test assessment. Note, even that occasion involved a meeting with the men in blue… Back to the iron sheets station. As I stretch my foot to march to the reception desk, a matatu comes screeching into the station. A group of angry passengers hop out, at the same time giving the conductor and those we Kenyanly refer to as ‘turn boys’ a confident beating, a sin enough to warrant Cathedral penance. The cathedral is not far from the station itself. The officers at the door, now drawn toward the new arrivals, shove agape smiles and grins to me, sweet-talking me into making way for the angry mob: ‘Kiyana kaa chini tushugulikie mang’aa ka hii. Kwani wee ni mang’aa tukushughulikie?’ My head swings from left to right in rejection, but in a second or two, I am occupying the same seat I have been warming for not less than thirty minutes. Mark you I was the first person in line after the clients I found at the reception desk. A tip for ye that know not how to handle the Kenyan administrative units with your ‘annoying’ chants of ‘ameruka line …’, keep it to yourself! At the iron sheets station, we turned into spectators—‘we’ meaning those that queued to be served. The spectacle was eye-catching. I expected the cops to stop the beating of suspects but speaking honestly, the men in blue made their point clear. They maintain law, order and offer free thorough beatings, themselves, whenever necessary. Just like in the good old primary school days when the most notorious pupils were forwarded to the cops for memorable thrashing. Within all the foregoing commotion, a fourth officer arrived and began interrogating us. After he had tossed us hither and thither using jargon meant to scare and annoy the hell out of us, we were finally guided to the cop in-charge of the abstracts! After all that time! It is at that moment when it dawned on me as to why one of the officers had asked me whether I was a man’gaa. The best part of being a cop in Kenya is the right to insult ordinary mwananchi and make fun of them as much as you wish (Chapter 27, Clause 02 of the Police Act <laugh>, I guess). The epic visit to the Iron Sheet Police Station finally ended after it had seemed like forever to me… Once I heard a politician claim that with the new constitution in place, the men in blue will have to respect and uphold my rights as a citizen unlike in days of the previous constitution. The new constitution accords me several rights: the right to be served with courteous words in place of the insults and embarrassing phrases normally used by our cops; the right to be handled well as a suspect; the right to a fair trial; and to be clearly informed as to why one is being apprehended as a suspect. We need reforms in our administrative units, especially the police unit. This is the main reason why I thank all Kenyans for voting for the decision that will shape the ‘citizens-rights’ future of our country. By the way, I forgot to see the OCS on the fifteen minutes mark!

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University welfare fund founded By Ochwando Makori Livingstone, Director, CUC Students’ Welfare

Fresh comrades, welcome to Chuka University College! You may not have fully chosen to be here but must now fully accept you are here, to make a positive impact for the betterment of our future and the attainment of Kenya’s vision 2030. We must make CUC what we would wish to be associated with in future. Let us use the four years to build our future. Whatever challenges we may face, remember we are part of the solution. We are a product of men and women who sacriﬁced their success, time, money and comfort to help us get to here. They gave us our cherished title, University Students. To sustain this achievement for all students, Chuka University Students Welfare Fund was formed. The Fund is a creation of students for students, aimed at helping to raise funds from peers, staﬀ, corporate bodies and other well-wishers in aid of the les fortunate students. Driven by the passion to help and the belief that we can solve many of our problems ourselves, and by the knowledge that

there will always be needy students, the Chairpersons of various clubs in the universisty, the Dean of Students Office, the Finance Office, the Students Congress and the Students’ Union established this fund. A number of students have already received financial assistance from the fund, when they had lost all hope of raising school fees. It is always a joy to see them smile all the way into exam rooms, places they could not have set foot were it not for the support of the Welfare Fund. To all who have partnered with us, your support has shone a ray of hope among disadvantaged comrades. God bless you all. I thank all the fund trustees who have sacrificed beyond their comfort to keep the spirit of comradeship growing; there has been nothing more fulfilling than being the founding president of this fund. This experience has shown me how much someone somewhere sacrificed for me; the results are worth the sacrifice. We make a living by what we get but we live by what we give. More blessed are those who give than those who receive. Martin Luther King Junior once observed that “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree Y to serve.” Indeed, “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give,” adds the philosopher Kahlil Gibran.

LIGHT MOMENT

oats are notorious for their jumpy behavior, more so when high. Legend has it that when goat-herd Isaac Berham of Kaffa in Ethiopia took his goats out to graze on some bushes, he noticed something unusual. His goats got more and more excited as they nibbled on some berries on the bushes. After a while they were really “high”, and seemed to be performing a kind of goatish dance. Berham became rather curious about the berries that were firing up his herd and decided to try them out himself. He chewed a few and felt quite “good” after a few moments! Berham shared his discovery with his people and soon the berries from Kaffer were on many tables as “coffee”. Goats were, of course, strictly kept awy from their favourite bush berries from then on! Watch out for another myth in the next issue. Sourced from ‘archives of myth’ by Columnist

Simeon Mabea

CLUB/MOVEMENT

OBJECTIVES

Aerobics Club

Physical ﬁtness

AIESEC (International Association of Students in Science, Economics and Commerce)

To explore students’ future ambitions and provide opportunities to work abroad

CHAKICHU (Chama cha Kiswahili, Chuo Kikuu cha Chuka)

Organising and attending Kiswahili related events

CUCASA (CUC Accounting Students Association)

Promoting the development of Accounting students

CUCISA (CUC Insurance Students Association)

Promoting the development of Insurance students

CUCMSA (CUC Marketing Students Association)

Networking with marketing societies and professionals

ECOSTAT – Economics and Statistics Students Association

Championing the development of Economics and Statistics students

Environmental Club

To promote environmental conservation through various initiatives

Instep Club (Initiating Steps towards Youth Empowerment & Leadership) To promote leadership among the youth Integrity, Cohesion and Security Club

To create opportunities for students to learn about criminal justice professions and systems, and make a positive diﬀerence in the community

Journalism Club Karate Club

To inform, educate and entertain the CUC community To promote physical, mental and spiritual ﬁtness through practical skills in physical, mental and spiritual defences

Peace Club

To enhance peace in CUC and its environs

Red Cross Club

To oﬀer ﬁrst aid and respond to disaster and risk

Religious movements: Seventh Day Adventists, Muslim Association, YCS, St Francis of Assisi Christian Union Rovers Movement – aﬃliated to the Scouts Movement of Kenya

To promote spiritual growth To take responsibility for the ﬂag, campaign against HIV/AIDS, conserve the environment and promote peace

Techno Science The Guild

To use computer technology to empower society To engage in writing of articles, debates, public speaking, drama, creative arts and

Focus on the environment

“I would like to call on young people to commit themselves to activities that contribute toward achieving their long-term dreams. They have the energy and creativity to shape a sustainable future...” Wangari Maathai, December 10, 2004, Oslo, Norway and also approached lecturers for support. With the joint student and staff effort, the labelling kicked off. This initiative impressed the CUC administration, which partnered with the club by providing metal plaques for labelling the trees. But why label trees? In his characteristic unassuming manner, Mr Muriuki explains, “Botany, Taxonomy and Dendrology students learn about trees, and labelling the ones here gives them live samples to identify, rather than relying solely on textbook drawings. In addition, labelling gives people not in the botanical field an opportunity to familiarize themselves with various tree species, since both the botanical name and the English names are indicated.” I make a mental note to take a keener look at the numerous tree labels I have spotted on the compound. The club is also continually engaged in tree-planting, environmental clean-ups and community sensitization on the importance of maintaining tree cover. During the 2010 World Chuka University students busy planting trees at CUC Boatanical Environmental Day, it conducted a clean-up of Chuka town and had a major tree-planting event at Kiang’ondu in Mt Kenya Forest. Garden s Kenya and the world come to grips with the demise This was an afforestation effort (re-planting of trees), as the area of Nobel Laureate, the late Prof Wangari Maathai – an had previously been used for lumbering. Area PC Claire Omollo ordinary woman who achieved countless extraordinary presided over the event. The club also sensitized the community on things, many have been prompted to look inward and ask the importance of planting indigenous trees rather than the popular “What am I doing, no matter how small, to make a difference in my eucalyptus, lucrative for producing poles used in electricity cabling. world?” Mr Muriuki quotes a surprising fact: “ONE mature eucaEnter Chuka University College Students Environment lyptus tree can suck up to 200 litres of water per day”! This leads to Association (CUCSEA), an organisation of students who seem to a rapid drop in an area’s water table, resulting in water shortages, as have taken this question seriously. In keeping with their motto: wells have to be dug deeper and deeper to reach water. No wonder “our environment, our life, our future”, they are literally changing many local communities have names for the eucalyptus that transChuka’s and the region’s landscape. We tracked down the club chair late to something akin to ‘water-drinking tree’. and patron for more information on their activities. The club’s acting chair, Robert Khamala, explains, “CUCSEA is a students’ club that recognizes the sustenance of man being largely dependent on the state of the environment hence the need to conserve the environment.” I am pleasantly surprised to hear this ‘jargon’ from the soft-spoken young man with a charming smile. He already sounds like he is at a UN conference championing environmental rights... which he may attend one day in the future if he keeps up his passion for the environment. Khamala explains that the club’s conservation initiatives include tree planting and cleaning up of public places such as markets, towns and hospitals among others. Their target group is the public, whom they encourage to plant trees and maintain “a mature Eucalyptus a clean environment. CUCSEA at present has about 100 registered members, tree can suck up to 200 with membership open to both students and non-students upon litres of water per day” payment of the registration fee. It was started in 2009 by students in the faculty of Education, with Dr V. Nyaga as its founding patron. Mr Muriuki demonstrates treeplanting to a group of youngsters She later left CUC to pursue further studies, but was so impressed by the students’ commitment that she sought a replacement patron CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH CUCSEA from the department of Environmental Studies. Mr L. Muriuki ·Kenya Commercial Bank, Chuka: donated tree seedlings worth Ksh 10,000 at the began his stint as the club patron in 2010, a position he holds to Tree for Peace Rally date. He is quick to point out that he considers himself “the deputy ·Barclays Bank, Chuka: donated 7,000 seedlings at the Tree for Peace Rally patron, since the club was Dr Nyaga’s dream.” Despite his modest ·Kenya Power: provided snacks and T-shirts to CUCSEA members during clean-up of demeanour, his passion for the club’s activities is unmistakeable. Chuka Town and symposium at Chuka University College in July 2011 ·NEMA: provides expertise and personnel during club activities He proceeds to give me a detailed talk about projects the club has ·Kenya Forest Service (KFS): donated 3,500 seedlings towards the Chuka University completed. College Botanical Garden First and most prominent is the tree labelling in the CUC · Chuka Municipal Council: provides a garbage collector tractor during the club’s compound; this is an ongoing project since 2009. Club members clean-ups, provided lunch to CUCSEA members during the Tree for Peace Rally initially pooled their own money to purchase labelling materials,

community service

Proﬁled by Rose Kimani

Continued from page 3 CUCSEA members went a step further in 2011 – in addition to their usual World Environmental Day celebrations. In March they organized the “Tree for Peace Rally”, which consisted of a clean-up of Ndagani Market, tree planting at KK Primary School in Chuka, an environmental sensitization symposium at the university pavilion, and tree planting in the Chuka University College compound. The latter event was presided over by, Prof. E. Njoka, the institution’s Principal. During the 2011 World Environmental Day, held on 5th June every year, the club did a clean-up of Chuka General Hospital and planted more trees in Chuka University College. Mr Muriuki adds, “our intention is to motivate people who are doing right especially in keeping the environment clean, and to encourage students to engage in constructive development activities.” He adds that ‘environment’ can be viewed in two ways: the physical environment, which consists of conserving air, trees, wildlife and so on, and the human environment, which is about people conserving themselves by engaging in constructive habits. Mr Muriuki quickly points out with a laugh, “You don’t want to conserve the physical environment only to not be there to enjoy it in your later years!” The club’s consistent eﬀorts have not gone unnoticed even by institutions outside the university community. During the World Environmental Day in 2011, CUCSEA received the Best Environment Conservationist in Meru South honour, courtesy of NEMA (National Environmental Management Authority). Corporate organizations have also sponsored the club’s activities, demonstrating that great strides in conservation can be achieved through corporate-educational institutions partnerships for the beneﬁt of society. CUCSEA’S long-term project is to create a botanical garden in the university college, to be situated beyond the ‘Runda’ ladies’ hostels. There is progress towards this goal; in April-May 2011, the club planted approximately 2000 trees in the botanical garden, and over 1,000 in the rest of the compound. A plan to plant 5 million seedlings in the region within two years, is one of the club’s important goals. Of this target, CUCSEA has already hit the 2 million trees mark. “The success of CUCSEA so far has been due to the support we always get from the CUC principal, Prof Njoka, who even initiated the club’s association with NEMA, the patron— Mr Muriuki, the members and the corporate organisations that have partnered in our projects,” concludes Khamala. Seeing the progress the club has made in such a short time, one cannot help thinking once again of the words of Prof. Wangari Maathai in her Nobel Lecture: “To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future.”

Two thousand plus ﬂock Ndagani campus Pay class reps an allowance for their troubles... Class Representative Michael Ogutu what itthat takes to kills facilitate the smooth Reflections onreviews ‘Cool’ running of classroom business.

class representative’s work is for lectures class representatives are it is intended, students before investigating theof sometimes not.why One Friendship in youth is good but to Sometimes simply to speak on behalf of forced to call them to inquire about of this money be missing. this is the causes paincould is choices we, As theif youth, what extent should wetheir allow it to the class—to present felattendance, usingmake. their own airnot enough burden, when the adminWe take wrong paths, and ignore good influence the wrongtime. way, low students’us needs to the A classasks rep whoseadvice name Ifor willthat not ofistration wants to pass any kind of us friends. Should friends force lecturers or theEthan. university administramention for ethical reasons complains information to the students body they Mary to lose our identity? Should we take pride in just

Accommodation, a serious issue at Chuka University When Chuka University College was inaugurated by President Kibaki in 2007, many people did not realize its high potential. Many people therefore failed to seize the opportunity to put up the necessary facilities the college’s students now urgently require. Only three hostels were established in the college early on, too few for the ever growing student population. The building of the ultra-modern ladies hostel too was just but a drop in the ocean in sorting housing issues. Had Ndagani and Chuka residents been serious in investments, they should have put up private hostels which they would now be renting to students. Can you imagine that some students share a single room which triples as a bedroom, a kitchen and a study room! The problem is serious, and unless addressed appropriately it could explode into something unmanageable. Wise-men once said “make hay when there is sunshine”, but the Ndagani community has failed to seize a valuable opportunity. Accommodation at Chuka University is so critical that the administration had to reach out to a hotel in the nearby Chuka Town to accommodate some of the students who joined the university in September 2011. The hotel is owned by teachers from the area and since it has been under-utilized, the University is now its tenant courtesy of the 2011 freshers double intake. The cost of land around Ndagani and its precincts has skyrocketed; a quarter of an acre is going for Ksh. 1 million. Foodstuﬀ prices have also shot up, including that of ready food retailed in the small restaurants within Ndagani market. Today, tea is selling at Ksh. 20 while Githeri is selling at Ksh. 90- 100. Transport from Chuka town to the University has now been hiked to Ksh. 30, while the distance between the university and the town remains the same. Overall, there is unexploited investment potential in terms of hostels, cafeteria and transport and any serious investor should focus on these three crucial areas.

By Munene Kamau

tion. But in Chuka University College that, “My lecturer sends me call back use class reps. replicating other people’s thoughts and opinions Our lives are full of mysteries. Sometimes it is the class representatives (more commessages when he has information he It is a fact beyond doubt that about life? I doubt that we should. good for us to look back and think about their monly referred to as ‘class reps’) do wants communicated to my classmates.” class representatives face frustrations Dothis, weand make them or do they just muchcauses. more than are therefore Thesecome desperateEvery beingsperson also which to are have beyondaordinary The wants uniqueones. identity naturally? Are we ever going to have a clear from overwhelmed with a lot of work. I unface stiff opposition disgruntled workloads thesethat students have his/her to enbased on the different values sustain explanation for requires everything around derstand that leadership a lot happening class members who begrudge them of dure make them eligible for some life. We should want identities that will makesort us us? For instance, why are we suddenly seeing of sacrifice but too much of anything is the leadership position.proud Chukayouth, Uni- those of allowance, justfrom like the one given to that come making good weirdness as cool? We are slowly allowing drugs dangerous. versity Students Association has in notlife. Hence, CUSA we officials. For use efficient running choices should all our vigor to I become a part and parcel ofspared our daily lives. In most must congratulate all class them either. universityto business, classdesirable reps are and cases, God class given ofabilities create representatives for thewrong good work they representatives are given contribution in ourselves. necessary. Shouldn’t a cash allowance Why is doing accepted? These questions personalities We should not enslave do in apply ensuring running of to collect welfareour money fromwith yearning therefore be to them, at least to tosmooth the most troubled lot forms in society—the minds to given belong, to the wrong classes. They work hard to find free their respective classmates. Some stuconsole them for the agony they go youth. crowd. hours and classrooms for make-up lesdents pledge contributions but in the through? this you Reason, wepay are sons. Why This isisnot easyso, work andwonder? should end fail to do them. Yet, ungrateful ingranted. a lot ofSometimes pain. not beusually taken for CUSA officials often accuse class reps when lecturers are late or fail to come of embezzling money contributed by

3 4

5 Pictures one, two, three, four & ﬁve tell the story of the long days of freshers’ enrollment in September 2011. Some parents complained of congestion and delays in never ending queus.

Where colours come alive!

Faculty of Arts and Humanities team buliding excursion a novelty

From Nyayo House torture chambers to the classroom

The

harrowing story of Journalist Munene Kamau, third year student at Chuka University College, as told to Allan Mwangi

Godka Hotel

Home Away from Home Above, lecturers from Faculty of Arts and Humanities drill away at Thuchi Lodge as part of their Team-Building exercise routine. With Ms Muli (extreme right), some of the lecturers pose for an all-smiles group photo

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ecturers in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities convened at Thuchi Lodge, Chuka for a stimulating team building session during the May semester 2011, an initiative conceived in one of the Faculty members’ meetings at the beginning of the said semester. Mueni Muli and Mary Karuri, who are the principal administrators of the Faculty’s Welfare Committee, were tasked with organizing a ‘social event’ meant to unite lecturers away from their daily oﬃcial duties at the university. Each member of the faculty contributed Ksh 1000 to cater for per diem and event facility costs. The team-building element of the social excursion was primarily Ms Muli’s initiative. An expert in Team Building and Sociology, Ms Muli organized fun physical activities that involved group-rope-skipping, team tag-of-wars and physical health exercise routines. Some of the faculty members who participated in the event expressed the value of team-building and informal socializing, saying it was a good way to release the tension caused by work-place pressure. Others said the activities of the event made them know their colleagues better. The event was however slow in commencing, as many of the lecturers who had pledged attendance arrived late while others did not turn up.

hen my father was alive, he cherished education and always wondered why none of his children could attain a university degree. So at 50 years of age I decided to enrol in university to achieve what I couldn’t as a young man. Fate had consigned me to detention without trial. Around 5pm on an ordinary day in late 1980s, officers of the law raided my home in Kirinyaga and brutally arrested me the presence of my three young children. They were extremely traumatised to see their dad humiliated, ridiculed and thoroughly beaten. A comprehensive search of my house ensued, as the arresting officers sought to establish whether I had any publications related to ‘Mwakenya’. Mwakenya was a purported underground movement that, according to the powers that be, was being used to destabilise the constitutionally and democratically elected government of President Moi. The officers found nothing in my house. They however took away a briefcase containing my college files, seized my passport, press card and bank pass book—which had an account of all my savings, Ksh 10,000. The arresting officers however alleged that I had a hefty amount of money that I was using to destabilise the government. Money allegedly donated to me by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (former President of Libya). I was accused of transporting parking boys to Libya for training in mercenary so they could come back to Kenya and destabilise the government. I had never been to Libya. Never had I communicated with Gaddafi. Further, I was accused of frequenting Moscow (Russia) for visits with Mikhail Gorbachev. Russia and Libya at that time were seen as great enemies of Kenya. Blindfolded, legs and hands tied up I was transported from my home to Nyayo House in Nairobi, as I came to learn later. There I was confined in a solitary cell in the basement. The cell was concrete-walled with a watertight door; apparently, it was specifically designed for torture. The basement, I came to learn later, had twelve such cells. My crime, treason. The penalty for treason is death or life imprisonment. For several days I would be tortured so I could confess my membership to Mwakenya. First, I was ordered into a prison uniform—a filthy, smelly garment laden with bedbugs and fleas. Later they would pump cold water into the cell up to neck level, until the threshold of collapse, at which point they would force me into another room full of hot air, from one extreme to another. But the real agony began on the 26th floor, the Southern Wing. There I found six men and one woman, smartly dressed, some in suits and others in casual wear, all of them were fiercely gawking at me when my blindfold was removed. I was placed on a chair, and I knew I was in hell. All the seven torturers fired questions at me at once. I told them I was not able to answer all of them at once: a dangerous mistake! One jumped at me and beat me mercilessly, asking “Who the hell do you think you are?” I was still handcuffed, and I fell off the chair from the beating. CONTININUED ON PAGE 7

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

sidents. One of the allegations levelled against me was that I was the Secretary General of Mwakenya, with Koigi Wa Wamwere, whom I had never met, being its president. By then he had fled to Norway. I recall being asked whether I knew Barrack Karanja, who had allegedly been killed for crimes like mine, and being told the same would happen to me. This is how close I came to dying for a crime I did not commit. Although I survived the torture, I had suffered tremendous losses by the time I left detention at Nyayo House in December 1987. My father had died of cancer, or shock due to my detention. To this day I have to depend on medication to treat the constant pain I suffer from the Nyayo House beatings. The cost of these drugs is overwhelming.

From left, Kenga Mwangeka, seated at front is Carter Muli, myself (in a black coat) and Mohamed Ibrahim on the right. This was back in 1985 when we were persuing Mass Communication to become Kenya News Agency reporters. Once on the ground, I was stripped naked, beaten some more, each man and the woman taking turns until they all got tired. The men then pinned me down as the lady pricked my private parts with a needle. I cried until tears dried from my eyes. When they realized I could not talk anymore I was taken back to the basement. Whenever I made a slight recovery, the ordeal would be repeated all over again in an attempt to force me to confess that I was a member of Mwakenya. As I lay on the floor in the room, the seven would eat good food and take soft drinks and mock me. I starved. Later on the infamous 26th floor, a certain officer put the barrel of a pistol into my mouth and told me that if I did not confess in 10 seconds he would blow my head off. I dared him to do it. Enraged, he dropped the pistol and punched me hard, knocking one of my upper teeth off. This was perhaps the turning point as my mouth became massively swollen, and I was unable to talk or eat. Soon I would gravely ill.

Medication aside, the arrest made me an outcast. I was shunned by friends and neighbours since no one wanted to be associated with me. I was also dismissed from Kenya News Agency where I was working upon completion of my journalism course at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. The colleagues I left in government service are today holding senior positions. Some even got scholarships and are at the pinnacle of success today. I also lost my dignity and freedom because the Special Branch personnel kept a 24 hour vigil near my home to see who visited me, when I left the house, which vehicle drove into my home etc. I became a prisoner in my own home, living in solitude and abject poverty, until the 2002 general elections when President Kibaki took over and declared Nyayo House torture chambers closed. This move brought a lot of reprieve to my life. Since then I have been able to pick up my life from where I left oﬀ. My two siblings were able to attain university education, as were my three children. One of my children has a Masters degree in International Business Administration from an American university. My last born graduated with a BSc in ICT last July and believe it or not we have been in college together, with me being the sole bread winner and paying tuition fees for both of us. Such a challenge! Wasn’t it?

Realising I was about to die from my illness, and that they couldn’t link me with Mwakenya, the torturers released me. They transported me in a Land Rover like a dead body, as I could not walk because one of my legs had been broken, and dumped me at the Tea Room Stage where vehicles from the Mount Kenya region pick and drop passengers. A friend recognized me and took me home where I was taken to hospital. My ordeal at Nyayo House happened without me ever standing in a courtroom to answer to my crimes. Later I learned that some colleagues of mine had suﬀered the same fate. Before my arrest, I had just ﬁnished college and had been working in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with four of my colleagues who were accused with me of treason. These were Njuguna Mutahi, Odhiambo Okite and Omollo Koduma. Okite and Omollo were lecturers at Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. Mutahi and I were Kenya News Agency (KNA) reporters. Supposedly, we were dis-

Tending coffee trees recently When I reflect on this experience, I thank God for having kept me alive to see the changes for which we suffered, and for sparing some of the persecutors who tortured me and the others accused of treason in the 1980s, so the former leaders may see how a country should be governed—through democratic principles, and not through autocracy or dictatorship. Much more of my story and thoughts relating to the experiences at Nyayo House will appear in my forthcoming book in 2012 titled The Nyayo Error.

Recklessness for the love of money By Grace Mbogo

arely have I settled in one place during the holidays. In fact, I count myself as an adventurer. I am always on the move. However, having been to many places, I have never encountered a place like the prestigious Chuka town (as my lecturer likes to call it). Our town. I had always thought it was a big town where I could locate big joints in which I could hang out with friends. A town I would be proud of. These high expectations drained down once I saw Chuka. What caught my attention most was the means of transportation along the route between the town and my university.

To begin with, the small vehicles that we all depend on from Chuka town to Ndagani market (where the university college is located) are very unreliable. Their drivers will keep you waiting at the stage as they hunt for passengers just to load up beyond capacity required by law. Whatever it takes to ‘ﬁll’ these ‘makeshift’ matatus, the drivers will do it. The current deﬁnition of ’full’ is two passengers next to the driver (which usually translates to one passenger half-seated on the gear shift) and four on the backseat, irrespective of whether the doors can close properly or not when all four have piled in. It goes without saying that the commuters are not in a position to use the seatbelts that were originally designed for fewer passengers.

Night hours are chaotic. You are not guaranteed to ﬁnd a taxi past 7 pm. Moreover, getting means of transport after 8pm is worse. If you are unlucky, you could be at the mercy of a reckless motor bike rider who always eagerly waits for his next ‘victim’. The riders ensure they get the most of the willing passengers by getting as many passengers as possible on board in one trip. I have come across many motorbikes (Bodabodas) carrrying three or four passengers, speeding recklessly, none of the passengers wearing a helmet. As alarming as this is, it seems no one cares. Supposing an accident happens, what would be the consequences? It is not worth risking lives for money.

We are to blame for our own poor development (Continued from page 9) What happens next after the public speech is obvious. Life continues and no one will ever bring up the issue again unless another social problem incident calls for it. The change that always comes with any form of strike is usually limited in its benefit to the people who wanted it in the first place. Is Youth Development and Empowerment the answer to the youths of this generation? Will it enable them to get by and to stop the chaos that they usually cause to get attention? I should probably ask myself this question since I fall in this category. But it has been very hard for the youth to get what they want. Each time they decide to take to the streets they are all smiles and laughter; not a day will they be mourning for the change they want. The few leaders that represent them sometimes avoid the protests. They were definitely neither nominated nor elected for that purpose. The protestors end up being at

a loss, bringing their protest to the attention of their fellow youths who join them. As much as they at times seem

plemented, so as to avoid commotion, leadership should bring that ‘change’ before the youth ask for it. It is encouraging that some of Kenya’s to be out of control and lack sense of di- youths have advocated for doing better rection, all they want to bring is change with the little they have instead of just so that if perhaps the change occurs waiting for a chance to pounce on the they will receive credit for it and give ‘we want change anthem’. Some have praise to themselves. started what they know can bring the Development and empowerchange within them and the society at ment of these young people can be hard large. I applaud them for being testisince they themselves will grab the mony to my belief that opportunity and ask for what cannot one can achieve any positive thing he or be provided. In the end they mobilise she wants without resorting to chaos. one another and shout ‘haki yetu’. Their right might have been in their sight but they never saw it, never got the time to “What the youth of any country utilise it properly to their best of interneed is a way of nurturing their est. Or maybe the right was never there. What the youths of any country talent, to create a solid and good need is a way of nurturing their talent, environement for to create a solid and good environment developing themselves” for developing themselves. Instead of telling them that change will be im-

OPINION

SCRAP 8-4-4!

very time I come across the word education, I think of the 8-4-4 system. My question always is: How effective is the system in producing an individual who can compete for the ‘good’ jobs all over the world? It is a pity to see that many students drop out after failing their K.C.P.E exams, at a time when many of them are yet to know the importance of education with regards to a bright future. The destiny of such students is unknown since the K.C.P.E certificate may not suffice in getting them even menial jobs in the contemporary world. Students who pass in K.C.S.E exams are offered courses that the Joint Admissions Board thinks they have qualified for. For this reason some students end up pursuing courses that are not what they would have dreamt of. Some of these courses may not be marketable due to a number of reasons, all of which leave students unemployed after completing their studies. Surprisingly, out of eight subjects examined in K.C.S.E., only three or four are considered during course allocation. What is the need of being examined in eight subjects while only four of them will be considered in course selection? The saving hand for all who aspire to benefit from educa-

tion belongs to the government. Good strategies should be set to make sure that everyone gets education that will be helpful at an individual level. These strategies include adopting a better education system that would benefit many students, for example the 7-4-2-3 system which is presently functional in Uganda. This system was once functional in Kenya. It required students to spend seven years in primary school, four years in ‘O’ level, two years in ‘A’ level and three years in university. After completing seven years in primary school, pupils sat for C.P.E (Certificate of Primary Education) exams. Those who did not attain the minimum grades required for secondary schools went to Harambee schools (community schools) where after two years they sat for the junior secondary exam. Those who passed rejoined secondary school to continue the four- year course. Such a system catered for all in every level by providing enough skills to earn each person who passed through the system a livelihood. Major examinations should not be abolished since they would be used to sort students to different fields. However, if it were possible supplementary exams should be offered to cater for students who experience challenges during examinations causing them to fail. It is common to find bright students failing as a result of sickness on examination day or even family violence on the eve of the examination. Others suffer from panic attacks that impact their performance adversely. Students should get into the fields they are good in as early as possible, even as early as during secondary education, so that by the time they are joining university they are on their way to being specialists. Marketers should learn to market as early as possible and likewise for doctors, journalists, teachers and professionals in other fields. This way, congestion in various fields will be reduced. Such a system will also increase the quality of professionals in various fields that will be beneficial to the country and the world at large. Coming up with a system that would replace 8-4-4 is no walk in the park. It is no blankets and wine where you sit on grass sipping wine as you listen to Kidum’s songs. It requires the combined effort of all people, bodies and organizations that value education. Once a good education system is established, all products of the system will benefit, making Kenya the home of valuable education.

Written by Andrian Nduru, 2nd year Communication and Media

Academic crimes... (continued from 7)

Other cases of cheating reported during the May 2011 semester involved plagiarism, where some students copied the work of others and presented it as their own

In one case, a senior student was accused of copying another researcher’s whole master’s thesis and presenting it for an oral exam defense as her own work. The Chuka University College library has now put in place a ‘photocopying policy’ that restricts how much content students may copy from the theses in the Above, an Atop-Desk Cheat Sheet like those found on many students’ desks during exam library’s reference section.

Academic crimes and

other such ills

vidence of plagiarism and cases of blatant cheating in university ﬁnal exams are no longer a reserve of the large university ‘out there’. Exam invigilators at Chuka University College have reported that students are forging exam cards so that they could sit for exams they have not paid for. Exam drafts have also been reported stolen from academic departments’ oﬃces, forcing lecturers whose exam drafts disappeared to set fresh exams.

Other serious examtaking malpractices entail students bringing cheat-sheets into exam rooms.Varsity Post reporters have discovered that some students write answers to anticipated exam questions on their desks. A random inspection of desks in classrooms in the Science Building revealed that several desk-tops have scribbling of lesson content on them. Such content is usually extensive and systematically jotted down in a way that could facilitate a student taking the exam to refer to it at will. (Continued on Page 10)

Cultivating vitality through self-reliance

By Gladys Mwathi, 2nd Year Communication and Media

esearchers and writers of books have all tried to deﬁne self-reliance. The aspect of self-reliance is a great challenge to many people, especially in today’s world.

What is it? In his book, The Road Less Travelled, psychologist M. Scott Peck says, “Most of us believe that the freedom and power of adulthood is our due, but we have little taste for adult responsibility and self-reliance. Developing self reliance is about developing these qualities of responsibility and self-displine and, in a true and truly exciting sense, becoming an adult.” Writer Fiona Harrold in her book Be Your Own Coach says that those who are completely self-reliant have real power. What is normally considered to be power is not real power at all. Chasing money, glamour or sex, wanting control over others, ﬁnding political and military power are simply manifestations of the need to appear without a shred of real personal and internal ease. “I have certainly worked with people who wield great power externally. Often sometimes they are internally indecisive and weak.” Harrold says that one can even be rich, successful and neurotic; that in fact, money can make one become neurotic. In addition, she says that if one relies on money as the source of his or her power one will live on a knife edge, with the fear that it could all be taken away from him or her. Moreover, self-importance is very dif-

ferent from self-worth. Self-importance is what insecure people project in an attempt to convince others that they matter. Writer Carlos Castaneda put it perfectly when he said: “Most of our energy goes into upholding our importance. If we were capable of losing some of that importance two extraordinary things would happen to us. One, we would free our energy from trying to maintain the illusory idea of our grandeur and two, we would provide ourselves with enough energy to catch a glimpse of the actual grandeur of the universe.” Is Self-Reliance vital or not? One holiday writer, Fiona Harrold, tells about meeting Paul and his wife Margaret. Paul had been made redundant from his job as a construction trainer four years earlier, at the age of thirty two. “Once the shock of redundancy wore off I began to wonder what it would be like to work for myself. I think I had always secretly wanted to try it,” he said to Fiona. ”The redundancy was my chance to make a break. I also saw it as a chance to try a complete change and move somewhere completely different.” Things worked out quickly. After Paul’s wife sold their house within days of putting it on the market, they moved to a very different locale where they knew no one and stayed in a cheap guest house until they found a flat to rent. ”I felt like an adventurer,” Paul said. ”We were both 100 percent committed to going it alone and setting up a successful business. Once we had made the decision we never wavered.

Failure was not just an option.“ Once they had their flat, Paul and his wife set about starting a construction training company. Six months after starting out Paul got his first contract, ironically from the company that had made him redundant in the first place. This contract was renewed and slowly other companies came on board and word spread that Paul and Margaret’s was a good business. Paul’s success did not come overnight. The key to their success lay in something that Paul’s wife told Fiona: “We could not fail,“ she said. ”Paul is the sort of a person who would do whatever it took to earn the rent. He would have gone back to his first job, bricklaying, if he had to, until the business took off.” Paul’s and his wife’s story indicates how vital self-reliance is. Paul had a strong degree of internal resilience and a willingness to take an action. These qualities are needed to handle life today, when demands are greater than ever before. There is no longer such a thing as job security or a job for life; these are memories of a by-gone age. We are encouraged to take responsibility for our own welfare and not to rely on the state or any outside agency. Self–reliance leaves one glowing with confidence and makes one highly attractive to others. It is like a muscle - one can use it or lose it. It intrigues and attracts others to those who have it and gives them personal poise and irresistible charisma.

Culture Week Pictorial Chuka University College Culture Week 2011 was an exciting showcasing of traditional regalia and foods; excellent dance and drumming by the Chuka Dancers; student variety

The Post travels to the mountain We are to blame for our

own poor development

shows, including model cat-walks. The event also featured celebrity performers such as Comedian Eric Omondi, and dignataries from the political arena.

The youth are the future of tomorrow, but also the chaos of today. They are behind many of the strikes that occur in Kenya and around the world, argues Daisy Magak.

Youth of Kamwariata, Chogoria enjoy reading copies of Varsity Post. Youth The men told the Post how they had been hired to cut their rural roads by the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme. Their fresh works can be clearly seen in picture one above

emolitions are all printed in their names; they are always looking for change that they are unlikely to be satisﬁed with in the end. Worldwide we have seen them, through the eyes of the media, looking for the rights they think they are owed either by the government or the organisations that they are against. The youth are usually out to ensure that what the majority of them think should be is what should exist. The response to their protests: “you are our future”, they are promised. Do the leaders of today really believe this? Or do they just say it to shut the youth up so they may quit singing the annoying ‘we want change’ song? Current leaders in Kenya often cover their ears to the youth’s songs and say what they need to say with no desire to live up to accomplishing it. At the end of the day, most of the youth will look satisﬁed. For example, the routine in Kenya has been that a protest by the youth calls for a public speaker to talk and give the other side of the story about the problem – the cause for protesting, say Youth Development and Empowerment Fund.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Online dating, ating, who knew •

• •

Above, Comedian Eric Omondi is mobbed by fans at the CUC Pavilion during Culture Week Festivities Left, Leah Augo is awarded for winning the Miss Chuka University title Below, Kikuyu dance troupe rejoices after winning First Place

ome to think of it, it is very weird and awkward how people fall in love with total strangers in the virtual communities- to the extent of being very indiscreet with these strangers concerning their private issues. For instance, online daters might tell about their previous love affairs, family and friends. In real sense can one really fall in love with a stranger? Although many people think they be friends before falling in love with anyone, virtual communities have confirmed this to be otherwise. Internet daters may trust their on-line partners, even though such partners are strangers, to the point of telling them about the skeletons that they have kept for centuries in their closets. Some even share experiences about how they engaged in pre-marital sex, got pregnant and aborted. It appears such sharing is meant to ease their conscience. Just because they have seen each others’ images (pictures), people in Internet relationships forget that their partners can use their brothers’, sisters’ or even cousins’ profile pictures and claim that it is them.

Many of these partners lie about many things from their names to their backgrounds just to conceal their

identities, yet strangely some virtual community members trust

their online partners without a trace of doubt. They actually find on-line dating awesome, as they are “able” to express their feelings. Interestingly, there are some instances where virtual partners get to meet for real and break up almost instantly the moment they meet. For example, there is a couple that met online and then decided to get together in person. They arranged everything but when the two met, they realized that they were not compatible at all. Secondly, both viewed each other in a different manner; their high expectations regarding each other were not satisfied by the physical, real meeting. Nevertheless, the example above does not apply to every case because there are people who date online and at the end they get married to each other. Anyone can try it out because no one knows where love can find him or her; or rather, where he or she can find love. Despite the numerous dangers of virtual relationships, I still exhort people to try it, because lady luck might be come knocking on one’s door. BY WINNIE ADHIAMBO OMONDI