The on-going recruitment of the University of Nairobi (UON) Vice-Chancellor (VC) is gaining steam with interviews for the plum position scheduled for 18th December, 2019. Already the Public Service Commission (PSC) has indicated that the basic salary for the Vice Chancellor shall be between 420,567 and 744,078 per month, putting the job in the same category as Cabinet Secretaries, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
It has now emerged that the Chair of the UoN Council, Prof Julia Ojiambo, the immediate former Vice Chancellor Prof Mbithi, the acting Vice Chancellor Prof Mbeche and the acting Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of human resource and administration are working in cahoots to prevent the appointment of a distinguished scholar as the substantive Vice Chancellor. They plan to move to court anytime to stall and prevent the appointment of a substantive Vice Chancellor.
The reason for the cabal’s approach is that they fear an independent Vice Chancellor will expose the financial rot at the premier institution. The four “Professors” have looted the institution dry, it is public knowledge that the University is insolvent, and already the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti has forwarded files to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji, seeking his approval to arrest them on corruption charges involving non remittance of Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Tax running into the billions.
In fact the four have already moved to the High Court seeking to block their imminent arrest, a move which the courts have rejected. President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered that all Vice Chancellors, Deputy Vice Chancellors and Council Chairs involved in corruption, particularly, regarding PAYE tax, ought to be charged and tried in court.
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What is more intriguing about the move of the four is that they have brazenly attempted to lobby State House and the Deputy President’s office to back their position.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are keen to have the Public Service Commission run the recruitment independently and are not taking any sides in the matter. In a bold move, the four learned “Professors” are therefore taking on the State head-on.
