The University of Nairobi has denied allegations that a group of students were maliciously barred from accessing their classroom.
In a video doing rounds on social media on Wednesday, a lecturer surrounded by some students were complaining of being blocked from entering a classroom at the UoN towers.
“The Chinese claim they have bought two floors in the tower. The university has given them land along arboretum of two acres yet they are closing us out. Where do they want us to learn?” the lecturer, Dr Bosire is heard saying.
Clarification: The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi is not a property of the People's Republic of China. The attached video by Dr. Bosire is misleading and ill-intentioned. ~ Director, Corporate Affairs 1/2 pic.twitter.com/V1fjdrn77q
— University of Nairobi (@uonbi) February 26, 2020
But the Director of Corporate Affairs John Orindi said that is not the stand of UoN.
“The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi is not a property of the People's Republic of China. The attached video by Dr Bosire is misleading and ill-intentioned,” Orindi said on Twitter.
"His sentiments are personal and do not reflect the correct position. This class had been assigned a different lecture hall."
Upon reaching the University, officials told the Star that not all students were prevented from accessing lecture halls at the seventh floor.
“The students vandalised the posters and the Chinese decorations on the walls. So out of fear that they could do more damage, a decision was made to lock out this particular group of students from accessing the classrooms,” the official, who did not want to be identified, said.
The 22-floor UoN towers, unveiled in 2017, is one of the tallest buildings located and owned by a university in the country.
It houses a lecture hall with a capacity for 500 people and four 300-seater lecture theatres in addition to numerous 60-seater lecture halls.
Part of the rationale for its construction was to overcome a shortage in lecture halls, which had in the past compelled the institution to shift some classes to external buildings.
