Comrades’ power: Student representation and activism in universities in Kenya

• Main Author: Mwangi J. Macharia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Journal of Student Affairs in Africa 2015-10-01
• Series: Journal of Student Affairs in Africa
• Online Access: http://www.jsaa.ac.za/index.php/JSAA/article/view/90

In the last decade, student politics and governance of universities in Kenya and in otherAfrican countries have undergone a tremendous transformation. The unprecedentedexpansion and massification of public universities, the introduction of ‘Module 2’programmes, the admission of private, ‘parallel’ and ‘school-based’ students, and thesubstantial increase in private universities have impacted on the governance of theinstitutions and student politics in different ways. In this context, this article exploresstudent involvement in university governance and describes the structure of students’unions in Kenyan universities in comparison with students exercising ‘comrades’ power’ inuniversities in Kenya.