Moi University plans to lay off staff

Moi University Administration bloc. [File, Standard]

Moi University is planning to lay off some of its staff, Vice-Chancellor Prof Isaac Kosgey says.

Prof Kosgey says the move is part of the University’s efforts to salvage its financial situation, which has been strained for years.

In an internal memo released on Monday, July 4, the institution’s boss explained that recurring expenditures such as the wage bill took up about 70 per cent of the funds, making it hard to run the institution.

“With the continued decline of revenues, the University is unable to sustain the growing wage bill and, as such, it has become necessary to undertake right-sizing of the human resource sustainability of the University and its operations,” Kosgey told Moi University Academics Staff Union secretary.

“This is, therefore, to notify you of the impending redundancy of staff due to the continued strain by the University to fully fund its wage bill, and to align the human resource to the existing workload,”

Towards the end of last year, the Kesses-based institution of higher learning confirmed it was facing serious financial challenges.

The Auditor-General, Nancy Gathungu, said in a 2018-2019 report, that the university’s debts had exceeded Sh4.5 billion.

In September last year, Moi University Council Chairperson Dr Humphrey Njuguna said debts had accrued to more than Sh5 billion, consequently paralysing some of its operations.

The institution of higher learning attributes its financial woes to the closure of satellite campuses and the scrapping of certain courses three years ago.

The confirmation came days after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) announced it had launched a probe into allegations that the university had been paying salaries to ghost workers.

As a result, EACC demanded payroll records of all staff since July 1, 2018.

It is reported that the institution has at least 10,000 staff members, with 1,000 of those on payroll alleged to be ghost workers.