CS Machogu freezes employment of low-cadre staff in Public Universities
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu fields questions from members of the Senate at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on August 9, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Mr Machogu said the only recruitment that will take place in the institutions and when it is necessary is for teaching staff.
- He said there will be no more recruitment for non-teaching staff, noting that what is needed now is to downsize and focus on the core functions of the universities.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has halted the recruitment of junior staff in the country's public universities.
Mr Machogu said the only recruitment that will take place in the institutions and when it is necessary is for teaching staff.
He said there will be no more recruitment for non-teaching staff, noting that what is needed now is to downsize and focus on the core functions of the universities.
“We do not want additional non-teaching staff until we address the financial challenges that we have in our public universities,” the CS said, noting that there would be no more funds for the recruitment of junior staff.
Mr Machogu made the statement during a visit to Kisii University on Tuesday where he inspected its capacity to provide modern hostels to accommodate the large number of students recently admitted to the institution.
He was accompanied by Kisii Governor Simba Arati and Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga.
A record 8,632 students joined the university in August this year, the highest number among public universities in the country. The Education CS said students must focus on their studies to become useful citizens of the country.
The CS said that the government had already released Sh5.2 billion for the first years in public universities.
“We have issued money to all public universities in the form of capitation because we also want to ensure the problem of making universities have pending bills of over Sh70 billion is solved. We request all the new vice-chancellors to manage universities well. We want to reduce those pending bills to almost nil,” said Mr Machogu.
"As of the end of October, we had saved Sh16.5 billion for housing in universities. This is not a tale I am telling you, but a fact," he said.
