Petition seeks to block KU VC Wainaina from influencing succession process

A petition has been filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi seeking to bar Kenyatta University Vice-Chancellor Paul Kuria Wainaina from participating in the recruitment of his successor.

The petition, filed by Lawrence Omondi Chero, alleges that Prof Wainaina is attempting to improperly influence the succession process as his term nears its end on January 26, 2026.

"That the current Vice-Chancellor Wainaina has interfered with the process of recruiting the next Vice-Chancellor by setting up a committee to establish a criterion which is ultra vires the Universities Act, the Kenyatta University Charter and the Kenyatta University statutes," Omondi says in his affidavit.

"Pending the hearing and determination of this Application, the Vice Chancellor Kenyatta university be prohibited from making proposals, or participating in the recruitment of his successor."

In his application, Omondi who is a KU alumnus, added that a scheduled Council meeting is intended to ratify a selection criterion influenced by the current vice-chancellor to benefit a predetermined candidate.

According to Omondi, the proposals are irrational, illegal and procedurally unfair to prospective applicants and, if not restrained by the court, could compromise the integrity of the recruitment process.

In the affidavit, Omondi describes several irregularities in the succession process.

He alleges that Prof Wainaina established a committee with powers exceeding the legal mandate of the University Council to develop a recruitment criterion for his successor. 

He further claims that the committee’s report was presented at a special Senate meeting on July 15, 2025, which was convened with only a day’s notice and without a disclosed agenda, and that the Senate subsequently adopted the report.

Omondi contends that the proposed criteria are designed to favor a specific candidate.

The criteria reportedly include requirements such as at least 15 years of senior-level leadership experience, a full term as Deputy Vice-Chancellor or Principal of a Constituent College, and extensive senior management training, including a leadership course of at least four cumulative weeks.

He contrasts these requirements with past recruitment criteria used in 2005, 2015, and 2017, describing the current proposals as irrational, ultra vires and unreasonable and unlike those of other reputable universities in Kenya.

The petitioner also cites a conflict of interest, noting that Prof Wainaina’s direct participation in the recruitment of his successor contravenes the government circular on the appointment of Chief Executive Officers of state corporations, designed to ensure smooth transitions between outgoing and incoming leadership.

Omondi argues that the Vice-Chancellor’s continued involvement is interfering with the process, causing delays and creating uncertainty that could have a detrimental impact on the leadership of the university.

"The current Vice Chancellor has usurped the mandate of the University Council and set up a recruitment committee which has presented a report to him purporting to set the criteria for recruitment of the next Vice Chancellor," he says

The court is being asked to prohibit Prof Wainaina from making proposals or participating in the recruitment of his successor, quash the report of the Committee to Develop Criteria for the Recruitment of a Vice-Chancellor dated June 30, 2025, and declare the Senate proceedings approving the recruitment criteria ultra vires.

" The Kenyatta University Council be prohibited from acting on the recommendation of the Kenyatta University Senate or the Vice Chancellor to develop a recruitment criterion for the Vice Chancellor for Kenyatta University," the petitioner says.

The petition further seeks to prevent the University Council from acting on any recommendations from the Senate or the Vice-Chancellor, and to have the matter certified as urgent.