Machakos University Student Leaders talk tough

Just a few days after the Machakos University students resumed studies,
the students president Rotich Bramwel through his personal assistant Michael Wafula Obunde aka Michael Yusuf is already turning the heat on the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)

Michael Yusuf is convinced that HELB takes students welfare lightly and as a joke

Speaking to us, the student leader Michael Yusuf decried the fact that HELB allocations have remained the same as they were 15 years ago, yet the reality is that inflation has persisted, translating into more costly products and services, hence the 35K that was more than enough to a university student  a decade ago, is barely enough in the present time , hence students have had to literately survive as they cater for their fees, transport, rent costs among other needs.  .

Michael Yusuf thus called upon the HELB CEO to consider as a matter of urgency allocating more funds to the students, he also wondered why the disbursement of funds has always been dogged by perennial delays - Yusuf stressed that the timely disbursement of funds is necessary from now on-wards. 

The student leader also didn't let MPs off the hook - he wondered why the CDF bursaries were given selectively, mostly disadvantaging university and college students.  He also noted that of late the issuance of Ministry of Education partial bursaries had been hijacked by the political class as only sycophants and cronies of the MPs benefited.

Michael Yusuf in his characteristic self delved into the wider issue of students welfare and called upon all universities (both public and private) to offer more chances in their work study programs to that poor but bright students would have a way of fending for themselves while on campus.

His parting shot was directed at the MPs, he castigated them for having thrown out the bill that sought to introduce mandatory internship for all fresh graduates - his exact words "2017 is drawing closer day by day and the university students will surely remember that this current house did nothing substantial as concerns students welfare "


We can only expect more from this fiery student leader has he leaves for Nairobi to meet student leaders from other other universities countrywide