Fresh storm brews at UoN over disputed VC appointment

Leadership wrangles at the University of Nairobi deepened again after the university decided to appoint a new acting Vice Chancellor on Thursday.

In a letter seen by the Standard, the embattled University of Nairobi council chairman, Amukoa Anangwe, announced the appointment of Prof Francis Jackim Mulaa as the Acting Vice Chancellor, stepping into the role for six months starting May 5, 2025.

Prof Mulaa will take over from the current acting VC. Margret Hutchinson Jesang whose acting tenure ended this week.

This latest reshuffle adds to the ongoing puzzle surrounding leadership at UoN, which has been marked by a string of acting appointments, Council wrangles, and backroom manoeuvring.

In the last two years, the institution has cycled through three acting VCs and expulsion of Prof. Stephen Kiama in December, raising questions about succession planning, governance, and political interference.

The appointment of Mulaa, confirmed through a letter signed by Prof Amuloa Anangwe, Chair of the University of Nairobi Council, comes amid controversy over the appointment of a substantive Vice Chancellor.

The council, in the letter, said Prof Mulaa’s appointment, who currently serves as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, was necessary to “preempt an administrative vacuum”

Mulaa will be acting until the confirmation of the substantive VC.

According to the University Council chairman, Amukoa Anangwe, former ICT Permanent Secretary and academic Prof. Elijah Bitange Ndemo is set to be the next Vice Chancellor of the institution.

A document seen by the Standard reveals that the professor emerged as the top candidate for the job according to the university council, following interviews for the top post conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

And the University of Nairobi Council Chairperson, Prof Amukowa Anangwe, has called on Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba to finalise the appointment process.

“The Chairperson of the University of Nairobi Council appoints Prof Elijah Bitange Ndemo, ID/NO. 382824, as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi with effect from 2nd May, 2025, subject to ratification by the Council,” the letter reads.

Anangwe, in the appointment of Mulaa, said Prof Elijah Bitange Ndemo is currently preparing to assume the substantive Vice Chancellor role once he concludes his diplomatic assignment as Kenya’s Ambassador to Belgium.

However, the finalisation and confirmation of Prof Ndemo faces a legal hurdle as the University of Nairobi Council 

This is after the Cabinet Secretary for Education in March revoked appointment of four UoN council members; a decision that was shelved by an employment and labour court.

According to Article 36 (1) of the Universities Act 2012, the Concil consists of 9 members– Chairman, PS Education/Rep, PS Treasury/Rep, five members appointed by CS Education and the VC as ex-officio member and Secretary to Council.

However, letters seen by the standard show that two of the four council members have since disowned the petition challenging their removal.

The two listed as petitioners in the case have distanced themselves from the suit, saying they were included without their knowledge or consent.

In a letter dated April 25, M.M. Gitonga Advocates LLP, acting on behalf of Dr Parmain Ole Narikae, wrote to KBN Associates Advocates stating that their client had been improperly joined in the case

“We are instructed that our client was joined to the suit without his express authorisation, knowledge and/or consent. He neither instructed nor authorised any party or firm to institute the suit or act on his behalf,” the letter reads

The firm further stated it would move the court to have Dr. Narikae’s name removed from the proceedings.

In a second letter seen by the Standard, Sally Ngerigwony Toroitich, another council member, stated he was added to the petition without his approval or knowledge.

“I was joined in this suit as a 3rd petitioner without my express authorisation, knowledge and/or consent,” the affidavit reads. “I do not intend to participate in this suit.”

Toroitich urged the court to strike out his name.

This means that the two will no longer serve as council members of the institution and will not challenge the same in court.

This now complicates the appointment process as the university faces a hurdle of a lack of proper constitution.

According to the law, the University Council is mandated to conduct the appointment of the VC in concurrence with the Education Cabinet Secretary.

However, without a properly constituted council, this could delay the appointment exercise.

“Minus two members and the VC and ministries' Reps, there is a balance of 4. These cannot constitute a quorum. No Council meeting took place. The Chairman cannot purport to be the council. Thus, no appointments were made as stipulated in the law,” an insider told the Standard.

On Thursday, the Council’s decision was met with mixed reactions, with academic staff at the institution claiming that the appointment of the VC was yet to be concluded.

Richard Bosire, the University and Academic Staff Union(UASU) chairman, UoN chapter, said that although Bitange is an accomplished scholar who would easily attract support from the university fraternity, 

“The council cannot meet; it's not properly constituted. Another thing regarding this appointment is also that the process requires that there is concurrence between the minister and the council. So, without the council, the council chair cannot purport to have done the appointments on behalf of the council, because he is not the council,” Bosire said in a phone interview with the Standard.

At the same time, a section of students welcomed the purported appointment of Prof Bitange Ndemo.

The students also accused the Ministry of Education of meddling and encroaching on the university council's mandate.

Ngetich Soi, one of the students, said the institution has been grappling with a gap in delivery of services to students as many of the administrative positions are in acting capacity.

He added that the appointment of a substantive VC would ensure a return to normalcy and effective service delivery.