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No, Kenyatta University not fining students KSh9,999 for ‘damages’ – memo is fake

Will students at Kenya’s Kenyatta University in Nairobi have to pay a KSh9,999 fine for “damages” to enrol in 2020? A Facebook user has shared what looks like an internal memo that says so.

Dated 9 October 2019 and addressed to “all students” from the “Vice Chancellor”, the document reads: “This is to inform you that the Senate has decided that normal duties will resume as from 1st January 2020. Each student will be required to pay a fine of KSh9,999 to cater for the university damages and restore normal operations. Failure will result to taking the semester off.”

It then lists three bank accounts for payment, and seems to be signed by vice chancellor Prof Paul Wainaina.

The university was closed indefinitely on 7 October after student protests that damaged university property.

But must students pay the fine or risk missing the first semester of 2020? We checked.



‘Totally fake’ – university


University spokesperson Machua Koinange told Africa Check that the memo circulating on Facebook was “totally fake”.

He shared a graphic of the memo with the word “FAKE” stamped on it. The reference number is circled to highlight that it is not the same as that in the genuine memo announcing the closure of the university.  

On 11 October the university tweeted a warning that the memo was fake.

Koinange also drew attention to the signature on the fake memo, which does not resemble the vice chancellor’s signature on the genuine memo. – Grace Gichuhi 




 

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