Shock of tribalism in Kenya’s public universities

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NCIC Vice Chairman Mary Onyango

An audit of public universities has revealed that the institutions have become incubators of ethnicity.

The institutions are in total violation of the Constitution that demands ethnic and gender balance for all public appointments.

According to the audit conducted in six public universities and nine constituent colleges, majority of staff either come from the same ethnic group as the Vice-Chancellor, the principal or the locality of the institution.

Maseno University did not respond as the Vice Chancellor was yet to settle in his new job. Rongo and Chuka colleges were also left out, as they had not been gazetted at the time of the audit.

Out of the 14,996 workers in the institutions surveyed Kikuyu, Luhya, Kalenjin, Luo and Kisii dominate the institutions of higher learning.

In the audit carried out by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Kikuyu are the majority at 4,133 (27.6 per cent), Luhya 2,544 (17.0 per cent), Kalenjin 2,133 (14.2), Luo 2,086 (13.9 per cent) and Kisii 1,253 (8.4 per cent).

The Commission noted that the five ethnic groups make up 81 per cent of the workforce in the institutions, leaving the remaining 37 tribes to share out the rest.

According to the audit presented to the Parliamentary Committee on Equal Opportunities, out of the 15 universities audited, 10 had the majority of their employees from the same ethnic group as the vice chancellor/principal.

“The remaining five institutions whose majority employees were not from the same ethnic group as the institution’s chief executive drew the majority of their employees from the Kikuyu community,” the audit points out.

Kenyatta University, with a Kikuyu Vice Chancellor, has 38 per cent of staff from her tribe, as is University of Nairobi, ironically headed by a Luo.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, with a VC from the Luhya tribe also has a higher number of Kikuyu on its staff at 49.7 per cent. Egerton University. Led by a Kalenjin VC, has 25.9 per cent of staff from the Kikuyu community, while Moi University, also with a Kalenjin as the VC, has 55 per cent of the staff from his tribe. At Masinde Muliro University, headed by a Luhya, 68.9 per cent of the staff is Luhya.

Committee Chairman and nominated MP, Mohamed Affey expressed shock at the turn of events and called for policy changes to reverse the trend.

“I am depressed with the findings of the audit because it appears the universities are becoming incubators of ethnicity,” said Affey.

Only Egerton University, Multi-Media University College and Mombasa Polytechnic University College have complied with the NCIC Act that requires public institutions to have not more than a third of their work force from one ethnic group.

Egerton has Kikuyu at 25.9 per cent, Multi Media College has Kikuyu at 20 per cent (Kikuyu) while Mombasa Polytechnic has the local Miji Kenda constituting 28.1 per cent of its work force.

Laisamis MP, Joseph Lekuton and NCIC Chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia called for tougher sanctions against universities that openly pack the institutions with workers from one tribe, as Affey called on the Ministry of Higher Education to shuffle VCs in a bid to address the problem.

NCIC Vice Chairman Mary Onyango attributed the worrying trend to perception by Kenyans that universities are job creation enterprises for their communities.

“Kenyans seem to perceive the university as a job creation enterprise for the community within which the university is located. It may be in this perspective that some regions agitate for the establishment of public universities in their areas,” said Ms Onyango.

The Committee and the Commission agreed to develop a draft Bill to provide for inclusive employment, which will see one body take up recruitment for all public universities.

In the audit, universities located within ethnically mixed areas elicit assorted symptoms with some kind of ‘informal’ balance between two or three communities, according to the audit.

For instance, Egerton University in Njoro, Nakuru has 28.9 per cent from the Kikuyu community and 25.8 per cent from the Kalenjin Community. On the other hand, Multimedia University in Ongata Rongai has 25 per cent of its employees from the Kikuyu community, 21 per cent from the Luhya community and 20 per cent from the Luo community.

The audit also reveals that the representation of the majority of senior staff at the universities and constituent colleges is consistent with the representation of the majority ethnic community at the institutions.

“Out of the nine institutions that submitted the grades of their employees, five have the percentages of the highest ethnic community in their employment reduced among the senior staff.

Notably, while the general employment in Moi University has 55 per cent from the Kalenjin community, this reduces to 36.2 per cent among senior staff,” states the audit.

While universities are allowed to employ staff from the local community in subordinate duties, Ms Onyango said the ethnic aspect has worryingly been introduced even among professionals and senior staff.

By PETER OPIYO, The Standard

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