Inside multi-billion-shilling project that tore UoN apart

Sometime in 2019, France President Emmanuel Macron visited the University of Nairobi, where he delivered a public address to students at the iconic Taifa Hall.

The visit unlocked a major working partnership between the University and the French government, opening doors for the first batch of 22 students to travel to Paris for an exchange programme.

On the second and final day of his visit, March 14, President Macron met then-Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed, where they agreed on various working partnerships, including scientific cooperation between French research institutes in Kenya and the Ministry of Education.

It later emerged that this visit would form the bedrock of a Sh18 billion project aimed at redefining the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in Kenya.

In 2021, the French government committed Sh5.5 billion towards the construction of a state-of-the-art Engineering and Science Complex at the University’s Chiromo Campus. The facility was designed to replicate a similar centre at Harvard University, funded by the same French institutions.

The 30,000-square-metre complex would feature precision machining laboratories, oil and gas technology hubs, innovation incubators, and advanced research facilities. The project was also to include postgraduate hostels, a hotel, and lecture halls— all integrated with a cutting-edge ICT platform.

However, the Standard has established that what began as a promising academic collaboration between Kenya and France has morphed into a high-stakes game, leading to campus politics, delayed timelines, and fierce internal wrangles.

Ground-breaking was initially expected in 2024, with completion targeted for 2027. It is now understood that construction is set to commence in May 2026—three years behind schedule— with President Macron expected to preside over the ceremony.

Internal conflict has already led to the removal of Vice Chancellor Prof Stephen Kiama and now, the dissolution of the University Council chaired by Prof Amukowa Anangwe.

Multiple sources at the Ministry of Education and the University of Nairobi, along with documents reviewed by The Standard, reveal that firm control of the project, originally conceptualised in 2015, has become the epicentre of a renewed battle within the institution.

The project forms part of a broader scramble over Sh200 billion worth of University assets— a tug-of-war that insiders say threatens to collapse the premier institution under the watch of the authorities.

The assets, including vast tracts of land and prime houses across Nairobi’s strategic estates, have for years been at the centre of unrelenting wrangles, allegedly driven by powerful external forces.

Project documents reveal that then-Vice Chancellor Prof Peter Mbithi commissioned a team of senior professors and administrators to develop a bankable proposal for submission to AFD.

An internal memo dated May 2015 from the Directorate of University Advancement shows that a technical team led by Prof Francis Mulaa had been appointed to develop the plan. Specific roles were assigned to top professors, architects, engineers, and financial experts.

Prof Mulaa was to lead the 12-member team, which included the current acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Margaret Hutchinson Jesang, to develop the pitch.

“Develop a project proposal to request for a credit line in support of training infrastructure expansion needs... and prepare a bankable business plan,” the memo dated May 12, 2025 reads.

Prof Mulaa emerged third after the Public Service Commission (PSC) interviews for the position of Vice Chancellor.

Jogoo House revoked his appointment as acting Vice Chancellor and installed Prof Hutchinson. Jogoo House has also rejected his promotion and appointment as deputy vice chancellor (Academic Affairs).

On May 13, 2015, the project team, led by Prof. Mulaa, composed of academic staff from various UoN faculties, then retreated to Naivasha to align strategic and financial objectives.

The team sought to create a compelling pitch that would attract funding and establish a sustainable commercial wing to pay off the loans.

This would be done through a commercial wing with 100 fully serviced apartments, which would be rented at a cost of Sh100,000 each month.

There would also be 1,000 executive studios, which would charge up to Sh50,000 monthly.

Both establishments would fetch up to Sh1.8 billion annually and the money would be used to pay the loan from the French over 10 years.

“To ensure sustainability of the project by building modern, secure and family-friendly apartments for commercial renting to enable pay the loan,” the project document reads.

In 2020, the university inked a formal partnership with France’s AFD and French-based universities that make up the ParisTech consortium.

And in 2021, the French embassy and ParisTech confirmed they would provide financial backing for the project.

This would include the development of eight universities’ Centres of Excellence and a complex that would host French graduate schools.