UON Council Sends VC Mbithi on Compulsory Leave

The University of Nairobi council has unanimously agreed on sending Professor Peter Mbithi on compulsory leave to allow for an effective process of appointing a new vice-chancellor.

This decision comes after professor Mbithi had requested for a second-term appointment as the university’s chancellor. The council rejected his request and instead sent him packing.

Prof Mbithi has been in office since 2014 and his leave officially starts on July 6^th.

Meanwhile, the council has appointed Professor Isaac Mbeche Keroka at the acting capacity while Mbithi is away. Prof. Mbeche is one of the deputy vice-chancellors that had been appointed by the former Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed. He was appointed as the DVC in charge of financial planning and development department.

The university’s council had even rejected the appointment of these DVCs by the CS pointing out that she had ignored the names that the council recommended.

In a statement, the council chairperson Julia Ojiambo assured the university that there is no cause of the alarm and that everything is being handled with care.

The universities amendments Acts require that the appointments be based on a competitive process and not through recommendation.

Even though Prof. Mbithi has been sent on leave, he still has the chance to vie for the second term through a fair process. The council has also reassured him that he will be enjoying his allowances and privileges until his term is officially over.

The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has been at the forefront in lauding the decision made by the UoN council.

Constantine Wasonga, the union’s secretary general, protested that the outgoing VC had been withholding salaries of the staff members and some are even enlisted with Credits References Bureau (CRB) as a result of this.

“I want to say as UASU, we want to wish professor Mbithi well,” Wasonga said.