This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
As the July 26 deadline approaches, universities are in a rush to submit crucial data to the Commission for University Education (CUE), which will play a critical role in determining their viability. The regulator will receive the second detailed document from public universities, following the first report submitted on June 30.
Staff are bracing themselves for the possibility of job losses, as the CUE report is set to be submitted to Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha by July 30. Auditor-General Edward Ouko has already indicated that a majority of public universities are insolvent due to debts and failure to meet their financial obligations.
University administrators have protested that the details being sought by the government require more time, but the government has ruled out any extra funding to public universities, saying they will have to make do with the Sh97 billion allocated to them.
The universities are also required to declare where they are located and to decide the fate of more than 27,000 staff in public universities, including 9,000 lecturers. The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) has vowed to oppose any merger, saying stakeholders have not been consulted.
Uasu Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga wondered how merging broke universities will make them financially sound, saying, “The mergers will affect jobs and, as a union, we will oppose them at all costs.”
