Staff Unions Warn: Poor Governance Threatens Nairobi Varsities

Top university staff unions in Kenya have issued a stern warning that the future of public universities in Nairobi is at risk due to persistent governance failures. The Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) and the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) accuse vice‑chancellors and university councils of lacking transparency, misrepresenting budgetary needs and failing to honour collective agreements. The public rebuke comes amid stalled salary negotiations and operational paralysis in higher‑learning institutions.
Union leadership say the root of the crisis lies in chronic mismanagement and a failure by senior university officials to accurately present financial requirements for staff welfare and institutional operations. KUSU’s Secretary‑General, Charles Mukhwaya, stated that vice‑chancellors often exclude wage and benefits obligations from budget estimates submitted to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Teachers Service Commission, thereby triggering funding shortfalls and stalled Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs). At the University of Nairobi, the unions have gone as far as to describe the institution as dying under managerial indecision, pointing to internal power struggles and alleged financial irregularities.
Reactions from key stakeholders have been sharp. Faculty members and staff expressed deep frustration, saying years of broken promises and inadequate dialogue have eroded morale and disrupted academic delivery. Members of parliament and oversight committees have echoed the unions’ concerns, noting that several public universities are grappling with unresolved payrolls, failed enterprise systems and sprawling wage bills.Students and parents, meanwhile, face uncertainty over graduations and semester continuity as learning has tilted under the weight of institutional instability.
Looking ahead, experts say that addressing university governance in Nairobi will require more than temporary fixes—it calls for systemic reform. Recommendations include strengthening financial oversight, ensuring transparent budget submissions by university leadership, and fully implementing registered CBAs. Unless decisive action is taken, the capital’s universities may continue sinking into deepening dysfunction, undermining Kenya’s higher‑education ambitions and the trust of both staff and students alike.