KISUMU, Kenya, Sep 27 – Students of Kisumu National Polytechnic have petitioned the Ministry of Education protesting what they describe as irregular and unexplained fee increases at the institution.
The college has remained closed indefinitely following weeks of unrest, after administrators ordered a shutdown in response to student riots.
Silas Adem, President of the Students’ Association, accused the institution’s management of stonewalling dialogue with student representatives, forcing learners to seek intervention from higher government offices.
“No one is listening to us,” Adem said Saturday in Kisumu. “We have written a formal petition because local education offices have failed to address our concerns.”
He claimed that police had thwarted attempts by students to hold peaceful demonstrations, leading to arrests and intimidation.
According to Adem, the fee structure imposed by the polytechnic contravenes government guidelines for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
“TVET students are expected to pay about Sh67,189 per year, with minor variations bringing the figure to around Sh72,000. But here at Kisumu National Polytechnic, students end up paying as much as Sh88,000 per year,” he said.
“That’s an excess of Sh16,000 per student. With a population of more than 15,000 students, that’s a massive amount with no transparency.”
He further alleged that a group within the institution’s management was benefitting from the unexplained charges.
“We believe this is theft. There’s a group enriching themselves with students’ money. That’s why the police are being used to silence us,” Adem claimed.
When announcing the closure of the institution, Chief Principal Catherine Kelonye acknowledged that students had raised serious allegations, including corruption, mismanagement, and irregular fee increases.
She assured them the issues would be investigated and promised normalcy would return once the matters were resolved.
But Adem criticized the shutdown, saying it unfairly disrupted learning, especially for first-year students and those preparing for examinations.
“This has become a cycle. Every time there’s protest, the school closes, then reopens later without addressing the root causes,” he said. “This time, we won’t allow the administration to sweep things under the carpet. We demand full accountability.”
In their petition, students are calling for investigations into the conduct of the Chief Principal, Finance Manager, and IT Officer over the alleged fee irregularities reflected on the students’ online portal.
Adem maintained that rather than halting learning, the administration should have stepped aside to allow for a forensic audit of the institution’s accounts.
“We have freshers whose parents had just paid school fees. Then you shut down the school indefinitely—that’s deeply unfair,” he said.
