Kenya’s University of Nairobi in the midst of crises

A series of crises has rocked the University of Nairobi, sending Kenya’s second-largest institution by student numbers teetering on the brink of shutdown.

From costly court cases, to a gaping budget deficit, to student unrest, to falling student numbers, to labour tiffs, to a controversial restructuring of its top echelons, the university finds itself in perhaps one of the most trying periods in its existence stretching back several decades.

On 11 July, the University of Nairobi announced that it had more than doubled fees for postgraduate courses and parallel degrees to ease a financial crunch. For example, the university raised fees for MBAs to US$6,000 from an average US$2,700, an increase of close to 120%.

The rise in fees triggered a floodgate of troubles for the country’s oldest university.

On 14 July, university students staged street protests over the hike in tuition fees, in which dozens were injured and others arrested. Student leaders have vowed to sustain the riots in the coming weeks until the university reverses the decision. Student leaders have threatened to hold protests next week over the issues.

On the same day, a doctors’ union moved to court to stop the plans by the University of Nairobi to increase fees, saying the higher charges will limit access for thousands of students from poor families.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union argued in court that the adjustment was done “without consultations, contravening the principles of openness and accountability, including public participation”.

The University of Nairobi has not been alone on this push. Vice-chancellors and chairs of university councils in November asked parliament to sanction the proposed fees increment which is supposed to guarantee institutions’ sustainability.

The vice-chancellors want all state-sponsored students to pay annual tuition fees of US$600, up from the current US$265. Private universities are also seeking to double their fees from the current US$700 to US$1,400 a year.

Late last year, Kenya’s Education Secretary, Professor George Magoha, asked universities not to increase tuition fees and, instead, execute austerity measures aimed at freeing up funds for investment in academic projects.

Defending fee increase

“There are no fees going to be increased for a student already admitted at the University of Nairobi. We will continue to absorb that deficit because it’s on us,” said Professor Stephen Kiama, the vice-chancellor, in his defence over the decision.

“The University of Nairobi has been operating under a huge deficit, and this is in the public domain. This has come as a result of us not costing our services. Over the years, the university has continued to develop many programmes to bring students on Module II [self-sponsored students] with the assumption that government would subsidise those students,” he said.

“So we have been undercharging them, thinking that we would use the money government is paying for regular students to cover the deficit. This fee adjustment applies to new students and they can pay in instalments,” he added.

Cash flow crisis

As if the fees increment were not a big problem, last week, the University of Nairobi announced a raft of high-profile changes in its top management, a decision which has irked Magoha, the secretary of education.

The reforms by the university council saw the university reduce its colleges by 24, from 35 to 11. The council also abolished five offices of deputy vice-chancellors which will now be replaced by two positions of associate vice-chancellors. Magoha has since asked the university to halt the reforms.

Over the past three years, the University of Nairobi has been struggling to get out of a financial problem which threatens to stifle its ambitions in the coming years.

In an assessment of public universities in February 2017, the auditor-general listed the university among 11 of the country’s institutions which are insolvent.

The University of Nairobi is running one of the biggest deficits among universities in the country and has been unable to meet pension and other statutory deductions for its workers.

Public universities have statutory debts totalling US$1.9 billion owed to the Kenya Revenue Authority. This is in addition to outstanding statutory obligations to pension schemes, and workers’ savings and cooperative societies.

The University of Nairobi leads with US$55 million and US$27 million, respectively. Kiama said the university owes the Kenya Revenue Authority US$720 million, underlining a deepening cash flow crisis at the institution amid a dip in student enrolment.

“Ballooning pending bills are part of the reason the university is implementing financial, curriculum, people and structural reforms,” said Kiama.

Educationists and independent analysts have warned that the university could collapse if no action is taken to rescue it.

“The university has more than doubled fees for its postgraduate courses and self-sponsored or parallel degree programmes, making it way more expensive than the other public institutions of higher learning in the region,” said Business Daily, a Kenyan newspaper, while castigating the move.

“There is nothing necessarily wrong with increasing fees for masters degrees or PhD programmes, especially if the university can match it with quality education.

“Globally, universities which charge high fees have for years worried that they might soon hit the wall — that is, price themselves out of the market.

“The university must be careful not to lose potential students to universities in South Africa or the UK that are slightly cheaper or whose fees are at the US$100,000 range but offer quality courses that increase prospects of one getting a high-paying job or promotion,” the newspaper argued.

The university had been picked up by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a candidate for an overhaul to save it from financial distress. The IMF, the private investment arm of the World Bank, has identified it, together with Kenyatta University and Moi University, as among the top state-owned agencies carrying the biggest financial risks.

This is because the institutions have been registering persistent losses for an extended period and continue to struggle to stay afloat, a situation that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want to appeal to the president to urgently intervene and rescind this decision. Doubling fees will make university education a preserve of the super-rich,” said Abdulswamad Nassir, an opposition legislator.

“The unilateral increase of fees by the university should not be tolerated. This decision should have only been made after consulting with students, parents and the ministries of education and health. The president should reverse this decision as a matter of urgency,” he added.

Neither the ministry of education, nor the presidency has come out to give a clear directive on the fees increment. However, following a meeting of stakeholders, some of those who attended told local media that the increases have been shelved for now.