The Kenyatta University land row issue continued to intensify yesterday with reports emerging that the disbanded council had rejected calls to cede 410 acres for use by various selected local and international institutions.

In a letter to the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua dated July 5, former university council chairman Prof Shem Migot-Adholla turned down the request, saying the institution had earmarked the disputed land for its projects.

“The council is concerned that your request to surrender the title deed of the subject parcel to be excised in a manner that is not clear at all. The council would hesitate to allow such surrender and warns itself, again of its responsibility as custodian of the university land charged with the duty to protect and preserve the same,” Adholla noted.

Adholla, who was eventually sent packing together with his entire council, accused the government of using the wrong procedure in its quest to have the university hive off the land.

Adholla’s team has eventually been replaced by a council led by former University of Nairobi vice-chancellor Crispus Kiamba, who suspended KU Vice-Chancellor Prof Paul Wainaina over alleged gross misconduct and insubordination.

Sources at KU intimated to People Daily that the new council accused Prof Wainaina of ignoring directives from the President, Cabinet, Education Cabinet Secretary and all other senior Government officials over the land.

Outgoing members of KU council include Simon Nabukwesi, Dr Julius Muia, Eric K Sila, Onaya-Odeck, Gertrude Namu, Annald Ongwenyi, Mary Mugo and the embattled  Wainaina. They were appointed on September 21,2018.

First agenda

Kiamba’s team took over on Tuesday evening with the first agenda being the suspension of Wainaina, who was replaced by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Affairs) Prof Waceke Wanjohi.

Details of the composition of Prof Kaimaba’s team remained scanty by the time of going to press.

Reports also emerged that Prof Wainaina’s woes may have been fuelled by his long standing feud with a former Vice-Chancellor with whom they have not been seeing eye to eye.

While Wainaina had been fighting to protect the said land, his predecessor was pushing to have it hived off.

Sources say it was because of the feud between Prof Wainaina and his former boss that led to the former being kicked out of the Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).

Adholla’s team had insisted it was not aware of the decision purportedly passed by the Cabinet during its May 12 meeting, which is said to have approved allocation of the land to strategic interventions under the Ministry of Health.

“The council holds the considered view that such a decision cannot be lawfully made without involving and consulting the university council,” Adholla said in the letter.

Further, the university governing council claims it was not involved in any decision leading to the said decision contrary to Article 47 of the Constitution that stipulates the need for fair and administrative actions.

This came as Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha emphasised that President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Cabinet made a decision that must be followed.

The CS made the remarks after groundbreaking ceremony for construction of Competency-Based Curriculum classroom at Pumwani Boys in Nairobi.

But Adholla, in the letter, said the responsibility of managing, supervising and administering university assets solely belongs to the council, stating that the government went against constitutional and practical demands by writing to the VC instead of the governing council.

Under reference

“The council is concerned that surrendering the title to the subject parcel in the manner suggested by your letter under reference may derogate from the responsibility of the council aforesaid,” stated Adholla.

“If due process of the law as aforesaid was followed, the university would have been able to demonstrate that it requires every inch of its land. The university has a detailed master plan which shows, inter alia, how it intends to utilise its land to provide much needed education services to the Kenyan citizenry,” noted the council chairman.

The government had earlier requested the institution to cede part of its 1,000 acres for use by World Health Organisation, which was to get 30 acres, Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that was to get 10 acres while KUTRRH and Kamae Settlement Schemes were to get 180 and 190 acres respectively.

Further, Adholla insisted that hiving off the land required special legislation that would depict the nature and terms of public land disposal.

“To the best of the council’s knowledge, the stature envisaged by Article 62 (4) is the Land Act, 2012, which contains provisions on inter alia, compulsory acquisition of land. The council is not aware whether such legal provisions have been taken into account,” he noted.

“In this case, the university is the registered owner of the land Reference Number 11026/2. Therefore, under Article 40 of the Constitution, the university’s ownership rights are protected. These fundamental rights cannot be limited except within the strict confines of the law. Such rights are indefeasible and are further protected under the Land Act Number 6 of 2012,” Adholla added.