Owino was responding to an X user who had wished for the lawmaker to sit next to the Head of State so that he could listen to and ask the president every question about the new funding model.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino has claimed that he has been locked out of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) where President William Ruto was hosting university student representatives to set the record straight on the contentious higher education funding model.
Owino was responding to an X user who had wished for the lawmaker to sit next to the Head of State so that he could listen to and “ask the president every question about the new funding model.”
“The brilliant MP is absent but will be very present on Twitter (X) to post from an angle of incitement,” the user named Nyakagwa Steve wrote, to which Owino replied by saying “I went but they denied me access.”
Though not explaining the reason for being denied access, the vocal Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) legislator has been vocal in advocating for students to rise and reject the contentious model in totality.
Owino, a former Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) leader has explicitly made it clear he is opposed to the new model, describing it as punitive.
“Student Leaders who will meet Ruto today must tell him the truth, the New university funding model is a beast that will consume our Education system.
“Our Brothers and sisters will never afford Education which they so deserve to change their lives and this country. Say No!” the MP had posted earlier in the day.
Through his official social media accounts, Owino broke down the funding model, revealing that in the 80s, the government of the day had provided grants, not loans which eased the cost of education.
“If in 1987 University Education was free, why charge Parents and comrades now?” he posed.
More to follow…