Clear confusion at varsity
The apparent management crisis at the country’s premier institution of higher learning, the University of Nairobi, does not augur well for it. At a time when the focus should be on enabling the university to deliver on its mandate of training the high-calibre manpower the country needs, there is some uncertainty about its top leadership.
Vice-Chancellor Stephen Kiama has not been on good terms with the university council, which has just suspended him for three months for the fourth time in his tenure at the helm of this prestigious institution. The last abortive attempt was in April. However, this time around, the dispute is being politicised, with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua wading into it.
A succession battle is raging, with Prof Kiama, whose current contract runs until the end of January next year, keen on an extension, which the council is against. DP Gachagua, from whose Nyeri County backyard Prof Kiama comes, has accused the council of harassing him, adding that whenever he defends his people, he is branded a tribalist. Prof Kiama has managed to fight off the previous attempts to oust him.
The Universities Act (2012) is quite clear that politicians have no role in the appointment of the VCs of the public universities. The VCs are competitively recruited by the councils and the recommendations forwarded to the Education Cabinet Secretary for appointment.
Council chairman Prof Amukowa Anangwe says the VC is under investigation for insubordination and gross misconduct without disclosing any details. Prof Margaret Jesang Hutchinson has been appointed to the position in an acting capacity.
The perennial wrangles threaten to strip the university of its respectability as a centre of academic excellence.
