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Egerton University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Isaac Kibwage and eight University Council members face a six-month jail term after they were found guilty of contempt of court.

Justice David Nderitu, in his ruling yesterday, cited the nine for contempt for failure to implement orders by the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued on May 30, that directed the university to pay lecturers 100 per cent of their salaries.

They are expected to be sentenced today after mitigating.

Nderitu observed that Kibwage, alongside council chairperson Dr Hukka Wario, Paul K’Angira, Julius Mutua, Wilson Ronno, Charity Nyaga, John Ondari, Esther Wabuge and Joshua Otieno had blatantly opted to ignore the orders that was prejudicial to the lecturers.

This was after the University Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Egerton Chapter filed for contempt after the university imposed a 40 per cent pay cut in 2020 on allegations of an austerity measure at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that left the institution financially strapped.   

According to Nderitu, despite Kibwage and the Council heavily relying on claims that the effects of Covid was the focal point for the deduction, they failed to produce evidence of audited accounts which supported their argument.

He further noted that the move by the university to deduct the salaries was a breach of rights of the lecturers.  The nine had indicated in submissions that the deducted salaries were occasioned by reduction of revenue streams and the negative effects of Covid.

Yesterday, Kibwage and the Council, through their lawyers, unsuccessfully asked the court to suspend sentencing to allow the parties to mitigate the matter.

At the same time, Uasu, through lawyer Lawarence Karanja while calling for the ‘heads of the nine to be placed on a pike’ said for the past one year they have suffered but are still working.