‘You Were Making Noise’ – Jubilee MP Tells Nyamira Residents There Will Be No University Just Yet
Stephen Mogaka, West Mugirango MP, has apologised to President William Ruto for an incident that occurred on Monday in Kiabonyoru, Nyamira county.
The MP stated that the President reportedly decided on the location of a university in the area after some residents shouted over his speech, demanding that he make the declaration.
He stated that the Commission of University Education should declare the President’s announcement of the university’s location null and void and select a different location because Ruto agreed to it under duress.
“I want to apologise to the President of the Republic of Kenya for the behaviour exhibited in Kiabonyoru,” he said.
West Mugirango MP Steve Mogaka says that no university will be established in Kiabonyoru as stated by President William Ruto. Steve Mogaka also added that the president has no authority to decide on where the University will be located. pic.twitter.com/vbGShfOUAc
— Jackson Nyakoe (@Jacksonnyakoe) August 16, 2024
“Hired people were transported there to disrupt the President’s meeting and started demanding that he announce the university will be built there.”
In a video posted on Friday, the MP spoke during a funeral service.
During Ruto’s three-day working tour of the Kisii region, the President announced that the government had decided to build the university at Kyabonyoru in Nyamira county after consulting with the local MP.
He made the announcement at Kiabonyoru Secondary School in North Mugirango, where he had already laid the groundwork for a dormitory.
It was followed by shouts from the crowd demanding that he declare Kiabonyoru as the site for the university, which he did.
“Tulikuwa tumekubaliana na huyu mjumbe wa hapa kwamba hii university ikuje hapa, na kwa sababu sasa ameende kunitangaza kwa raia, sasa maneno ndio hivyo,” he said.
(We had an agreement with the area MP that the university be built in this area and because he has reported me to constituents, that’s how it will be)
Ruto stated that he would provide the initial Sh500 million for construction to begin.
However, MP Mogaka believed that the President’s decision was involuntary.
“My President was troubled and because he wanted just one minute to speak to Nyamira people, he said if that is what you are making noise about, take it,” he said.
“That is not an issuance of a university to any location in Kenya or in Nyamira in particular.
“I’m a lawyer and I also can confirm that anything you are pressured to do…something you are coerced to do, that thing is null and void,” he added.
Mogaka stated that their focus on having a university in Nyamira is that the process is done using due process through a decision of the Commission of University Education.
He stated that as Nyamira County leaders, they will await the commission’s decision on the new location for the university.
“That is the decision that will apply and we do apologise that you were forced to cave in or succumb to undue pressure…and I invite you back to Nyamira in October and you will see how civilised [and] disciplined, how citizens living in Nyamira county living in West Mugirango conduct their business.”
‘You Were Making Noise’ – Jubilee MP Tells Nyamira Residents There Will Be No University Just Yet
