Role of Students in National Politics in Kenya

Abstract

University students have played a major role in the leadership and democratization process in Kenya since independence. It is generally believed that university students constitute the future intelligentsia who will one day take over society’s leadership positions. They constitute the largest reservoir of highly trained manpower and thus a source of technocrats needed for Kenya’s development (Nolutshungu, 1978). University students are always considered the vehicles of ideological dissemination and representatives of the left. Although not a popular subject of scholarly endeavor, university students have a long history of student activism, and they often engage authorities in running battles, some of them violent (Erlich, 1989). At the level of national politics, university students often rally behind radical politicians and former university students. In the case of Kenya, university students have left an indelible mark on the politics of the country (Mazrui, 1995). Titus Adungosi and Mwandawiro Mghanga are perhaps the most famous student leaders produced by the University of Nairobi, while James Orengo remains perhaps the most enduring former student leader on the national stage. Titus Adungosi (or Tito as he was famously known) was the SONU Chairman during the 1982 attempted military coup in Kenya. Adungosi died at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 1988 and this raised his hero status. Mwandawiro Mghanga was also arrested and later served as a Member of Parliament in Kenya. James Orengo has been in parliament throughout except for one term in 1997–2002, when he went against Raila Odinga’s political influence and contested on a different party’s platform. This article looks at how university students and former student leaders have participated in shaping national politics in Kenya.