The Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education has identified the unchecked expansion of universities, coupled with bloated staffing, as the primary challenge hindering institutions of higher learning from sustaining their payroll, operations, and maintenance expenses.
Citing the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K), the Committee chaired by Bumula MP Jack Wamboka observed that since its elevation to a full-fledged university on January 15, 2013, the institution has operated with chronic funding shortfalls. Its approximated monthly revenue of Kshs. 207 million, including Kshs. 63.3 million in capitation, falls short of covering the monthly expenditure of Kshs. 314 million.
The lawmakers highlighted a monthly wage bill of Kshs. 272 million that has not been met, contributing to an accumulated debt of Kshs. 12.99 billion, including arrears from the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) cycle.
Due to these cash flow challenges, the University resorted to paying net salaries to all staff, failing to remit statutory deductions (pensions, PAYE, and housing levy) and third-party deductions (union dues, bank loans, SACCOs, welfare contributions, and insurance premiums) from employees’ salaries. These financial difficulties have subsequently led to the accumulation of pending bills.
Moi University pending bills
Turning their attention to Moi University, the Committee noted that this institution has also been facing difficulties in meeting its day-to-day operational costs, in addition to the non-remittance of payroll deductions. The pending bills as of March 31, 2025, stood at Kshs. 9,234,952,068.
Consequently, Moi University also resorted to paying net salaries to all staff, failing to remit statutory deductions (pensions, PAYE, and housing Levy) and third-party deductions (union dues, bank loans, SACCOs, welfare contributions, and insurance premiums) from the employees’ salaries.
Currently, the outstanding amount due to the Pension Scheme and Provident Fund stands at approximately Ksh 4.2 billion, inclusive of interest and penalties. The Committee observed that this situation has contributed to the increasing number of strikes at the university.
In response, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Julius Migos Ogamba, stated that to overcome these challenges, the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with TU-K, had developed a recovery plan that includes several measures, such as Direct Payroll Support, which will provide a net payroll support of Kshs. 145 million.
According to the CS, the support is to be provided for the period from January, 2025 through to 30th June, 2025 to ensure that staff salaries are paid on time.
The Ministry of Education also pledged to channel conditional grants to bridge the budget gap, with phased allocations over the next Financial Years from 2025/2026 to 2031/2032 to cover gross salaries and enable the timely remittance of statutory deductions.
Under this arrangement, TU-K is expected to provide funds over the financial years 2025/2026, 2028/2029, and 2029/2030 to settle the outstanding liabilities of the wound-up TU-K Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme, in line with the overall recovery strategy.
How much has government allocated to Moi University?
Regarding Moi University, CS Migos informed the Committee that the Government had allocated Ksh 500 million to address the financial requirements for staff by the end of January 2025, and that this amount had been provided to the University.
Furthermore, to ensure an equitable resolution while balancing the financial sustainability for staff, the repayment plan for the pending bills accrued by Moi University, amounting to Kshs. 8.6 billion, is set to be implemented in a phased manner.
“We are working with all stakeholders in the university sub-sector to ensure that our universities are run efficiently and sustainably so that they do not run into financial crises as we have seen before,” the CS told the lawmakers.
“A key part of this is good corporate governance, which we are working to instill by appointing competent and suitable persons as Council members and as senior management in our public universities,” Migos added.
