Members of the Parliamentary Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education asked the University of Nairobi’s management to outline a plan for settling a KSh20 billion shortfall, despite the institution’s asset portfolio exceeding KSh200 billion.
Committee chair Dick Maungu said the university had not demonstrated how its holdings could be applied to its liabilities, noting that staff and creditors were bearing the impact of the cash squeeze.
Maungu urged the university to present practical ways to generate income from its property and investments, stating, “You need to bring strategies of clearing the debt. We cannot see pragmatic steps you have put to secure the university in terms of investment.”
Vice Chancellor Ayub Gitau replied that the university was exploring commercialisation of its assets to raise revenue, saying, “We have a deficit of about KSh20 billion. We are in the stages of commercializing our asset base, which totals about KSh200 billion.”
Gitau also indicated that austerity measures were being introduced to limit spending and make better use of existing resources.
The committee pressed for evidence that the proposed actions would produce income and enable payment of outstanding amounts to staff and creditors.
The university has not yet provided a detailed schedule showing how the commercialisation strategy will shrink the deficit and settle the debts owed.
