Reports of widespread salary arrears, internal dysfunction, and ethical breaches have emerged at the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), where staff and former employees describe a toxic environment marred by financial mismanagement and leadership failure.
Once hailed as a premier institution for training Kenya’s managerial elite, KIM now finds itself under mounting scrutiny following a string of damaging allegations that suggest a steady decline in operational integrity and employee welfare.
Sources from multiple KIM campuses across the country claim that delayed or entirely unpaid salaries have become a chronic issue, affecting both teaching and non-teaching staff.
In some reported cases, employees, especially newly hired lecturers, have worked for months without receiving a single paycheck.
One former staff member who left the institution in 2022 says they are still owed dues dating back to 2020.
The crisis reached a tipping point in early 2025, when students at several campuses reported arriving for class only to find lecture halls empty.
Investigations later revealed that many lecturers had silently downed their tools after going unpaid for prolonged periods, some reportedly for up to nine months.
Current and former employees who spoke to reporters describe a system plagued by salary delays, unremitted statutory deductions, including SACCO and NSSF, and management that is either indifferent or outright hostile when questioned.
Internally, frustrations appear to center on the office of the Head of Shared Services, who has been named by several sources as a key obstacle in resolving staff concerns.
Allegations range from ignoring emails and calls to refusing to issue clearance letters, thereby blocking career transitions for ex-staff.
In at least two reported instances, the official and the institution’s Executive Director allegedly wrote defamatory letters to new employers of former staff members, a move some have interpreted as retaliatory.
Behind the scenes, concerns about accountability and ethics at the highest level are also surfacing.
The current CEO is said to receive regular salary advances without proper deductions, casting doubt on KIM’s internal financial controls.
In a separate allegation, a former employee claims to have ghostwritten significant parts of the CEO’s thesis, which reportedly helped him secure a recent academic recognition.
Despite growing internal unrest and public pressure, there has been little in the way of accountability.
Even out-of-court settlements agreed to by KIM with former staff are reportedly not being honored, leaving many disillusioned and financially stranded.
The revelations mark a devastating blow to an institution that has for decades positioned itself as the standard-bearer of professional development.
Stakeholders, including students, alumni, and professional partners, are now calling for an urgent external audit and structural reforms to salvage the once-venerable brand.
“Hi Nyakundi. I would like your help in exposing the ongoing rot at the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), which many of us now refer to as the Kenya Institute of Mismanagement. Lecturers and staff are suffering. People have gone for months without salaries. Some employees have never been paid a single cent since being hired. Newly recruited staff report for duty, only to be strung along without any pay, until they eventually give up and leave. In 2025, there have been several instances where students arrived at various campuses and found that no lecturers had shown up. Later, it was revealed that most of those lecturers had gone unpaid for months. This problem is not new. In 2018, part-time lecturers threatened to go on strike due to unpaid wages dating back to 2017. The Chief Executive Officer at the time admitted the debts existed, but no payments were made. In May 2025, a former employee successfully sued the institution for unpaid salaries between 2020 and 2022. The court ruled in the employee’s favour and awarded over six hundred thousand shillings because KIM could not provide any evidence that they had paid the employee. Internal staff reviews paint a very grim picture. Salaries are delayed frequently. Staff turnover is extremely high. Deductions such as SACCO contributions and NSSF are never remitted. If you resign, you are told to forget about your pending dues. Some former staff who resigned still cannot get clearance letters years later. This blocks them from getting other jobs, and KIM simply ignores all follow-ups. The person responsible is the Head of Shared Services. Multiple people describe him as never available, arrogant, and dismissive. Others say that when they tried to follow up on their payments, both the Head of Shared Services and the Executive Director wrote negative letters to their new employers in what seems like clear professional sabotage. There are also questions about how money is being handled at the top. The current Chief Executive Officer is said to receive salary advances that are never recovered. One former employee says they were asked to ghostwrite the CEO’s academic thesis so that he could win an award. These are just examples of how deep the dysfunction runs. This is no longer just mismanagement. It is institutional exploitation, and it is time someone held them accountable.”
