unza riots

last friday, may 23rd, unza students rioted  in protest of their low monthly stipend from the government. i was on my way to work, getting off the bus at the unza stop, when i noticed a lot of commotion and noise coming from the other side of the street. usually i have to cross a foot bridge to get to campus from the bus stop, but the man i usually buy my cell phone minutes from informed me there was a riot and maybe i shouldn’t go into work today. i called my coworkers only to find out they were not on campus yet and couldn’t give me an update as to what was going on. i decided to stand around with the rest of the crowd and try and figure out what was going on.

within about ten minutes police in riot gear were running down the street towards unza. they were carrying bigger automatic weapons than usual, had shields, batons and helmets (i realize i am not using the appropriate terms here, but honestly, who knows what riot gear is called?). i decided that i had done enough observing and started walking toward a mall nearby to  do my work for the day. suddenly, i heard a few small sounding explosions and my eyes and nose started to burn. i realized that tear gas was being carried on the wind from campus and picked up my pace.

i later read in the paper that two students were shot, one in the leg and one in the chest, by the police trying to contain the riot. unza students are notorious for rioting, however this was one of the biggest in some time. students and others are calling into question the necessity of using live bullets in containing the crowd. the police have not issued a public response as of yet.

even this week there are rumors that students will continue rioting. the students demands of increased allowance were not met by the education minister and currently the president is out of the country. however, once he has returned it may be possible that riots resume.

this is the closest to a riot i have ever been and it was all very fast and confusing. i was never in any danger and always quite removed from the action, although it does make you realize how quickly things can escalate.