Author Reference
Benard, L. (2015): With University Graduations Comes
Safety Challenges. Intel Fire Group of Companies Blog. Nairobi, Kenya.
The year 2015 is coming to a fast end
with heightened activities in Kenya both politically, spiritually, 'meteorologically'
and academically. The first two are not considered in this platform but
academically the end year beacons the celebrations from various public and
private institutions of learning to mark the achievements of scholars from the bachelors to the doctorate levels. The graduation dates have
already been set with the notable ones being the JKUAT on 27th
November, University of Nairobi on 4th December, and Kenyatta and
Mount Kenya Universities having their graduations on the 11th of
December, 2015. Graduations always bring bright moments and memories to
remember for a long time but these can be a nightmare for the members of the
public and the residents in attendance. Safety challenges during graduations
are enormous but the Kenyan environment is very specific with certain
challenges. If you are planning to attend a graduation in Kenya, these are the
challenges to expect:
Graduation ceremonies in Kenya still
remain a mysterious business as there is no clear definition of what it should
entail and every graduate’s families will organize theirs in their own way.
Coupled with the perception that all relatives must attend graduation
ceremonies at the universities, this always bring with it huge crowds. This is
usually made worse by the fact that only one entrance is allowed to most of
this ceremonies but this could be even more worse if many entrances were to be allowed as these universities have limited resources compared to the number
graduating. Take for instances a university churning out 5, 000 graduates in
one session. Take an assumption that each graduate brings only three family
members to the graduation square, the figure shoots to 15,000 as the number of
family members minus the graduating team. Without proper planning therefore, this
leads to overcrowding and this comes with its negative eventualities. Over-crowding
in most instances has led to medical emergencies during these ceremonies
occasioned by fainting, fatigue, hunger and even accidents.
Another major challenge is traffic jams
which is usually occasioned by poor planning and management of the many vehicle
owners attending the graduation. Again in Kenya if your family does not own a
car that you can use for graduation, one will be hired on your behalf and if you are from the
Kenyan village and you are first one to graduate in that village, the whole
village is graduating and they have to be in attendance. Therefore it will not
be unique to find village school vehicles in attendance at graduation ceremonies.
Since this is the first time these vehicles are coming to the furthest from a village town,
they will be slow and in the direction opposite to required. For universities
in county towns like Thika, Eldoret, Kakamega among others, when a graduation is
announce, the members of the public are also prepared for the worst traffic
day.
In these ceremonies incidences of petty
and major thefts have been reported and the most prominent ones being
pickpocketing and car theft. The culprits for car thefts are usually car owners
who opt to park their cars along the road and outside the university’s
prescribed parking arena due to fear of jams during exit. Pickpockets on the
other hand target the huge crowds to institute their evil deeds through
camouflaging those in attendance. It is not easy to identify them and the best
remedy would always be being careful with your valuable items which include
your wallet or purse.
Graduation events are therefore
ceremonies that should be taken seriously in terms of safety needs of the
members of those attending and the students within the campus who are going on
with their normal studies. So far as it stands every university in Kenya has their own unique way managing their graduations and so far so good.
The writer is a PhD Generalist in
Public Safety Service Delivery
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