Tharaka University students protest soaring hostel rents as landlords agree to review rates within 14 days. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]
First-year students at Tharaka University in Tharaka Nithi were shocked when they found out the amount of rent they were going to pay in private hostels.
Hostel owners around the university, keen to cash in on the big number of students streaming in from across the country, quickly hiked the rent, leaving the vulnerable students stranded.
Single rooms cost up to Sh5,000 and bedsitters at Sh8,000, way beyond what the students were able to pay.
After the students arrived, and with over 8,000 new students expected at the institution, landlords were salivating, ready to make a financial kill.
Some hostels were being booked even before roofing, and business around the varsity, including eateries, reported huge sales.