By AUGUSTINE ODUOR
MPs have convened a crisis meeting today whose outcome could determine the fate of a planned strike by lecturers in public universities.
The House committee on Education, Science and Technology has summoned all the public university vice chancellors to a meeting aimed at finding a solution to the impending strike.
University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) and the Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu) have also been summoned to appear before the education committee today. But Uasu and Kusu yesterday warned that they would not entertain processes aimed at slowing down the strike momentum.
“We are aware that these are delaying tactics and we are keenly watching to see what will come out of today’s meeting,” said Uasu Secretary General Muga K’Olale.
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The two unions accused public university vice chancellors of embezzling Sh3.9 billion salary award by the Government.
They jointly claimed that they have ‘incriminating evidence’ that point at ‘gross misuse’ of monies meant to settle their negotiated salary deal.
Satellite campuses
They said some vice chancellors and principals of various university colleges conspired to irregularly allocate themselves hefty amounts from the negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the union and the Government.
The two officials said the management at public universities awarded themselves Sh504 million while Sh953 million was spent on pensions.
They added that Sh714 million was used to set up new satellite campuses across the country, against the tenets of the CBA.
Committee vice chair Julius Melly said sanity must be restored in public universities.
“We seek to find an amicable solution tomorrow (today) when they appear before us,” he said. K’Olale and Mukhwaya yesterday said they will not weaken their resolve to unearth the scam in public universities. The two officials said it was immoral for university management to slice their well-negotiated pay deal for their selfish gain. But Public Universities Vice-Chancellors’ Committee Chairperson Mabel Imbuga said there had been a misunderstanding between the unions and the vice chancellors.
