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Acting Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Prof Waceke Wanjohi faced the wrath of lawmakers after acknowledging that it had hired foreigners.

The Cohesion and Equal Opportunities Committee, chaired by Mandera West MP Adan Haji, sought to know why KU was dishing out jobs to non-locals when Kenyans have the required skills to take up those opportunities.

It was wrong, Haji said, for KU to hire foreigners for jobs that could be done by Kenyans.

“What is the reason for employing foreigners? The law only allows employment of foreigners with special skills that Kenyans do not have,” he said.

Nominated MP Irene Mayaka sought to know why the university had hired foreigners at the expense of Kenyans.

The MPs’ questions came after KU, in its report to the committee, said it had employed foreign nationals including Cameroonians, Egyptians and Germans.

Foreign languages

Most of the foreigners, Wanjohi responded, were hired as lecturers and others as foreign-language instructors.

She said: “The university employed the foreigners for the purpose of building capacity in terms of curriculum development.”

Wanjohi was also asked to explain why KU had not complied with the law on employing people with disabilities and why it hired people aged 70 and above.

Lawmakers said retaining workers who are more than 70 years old violates the law, which requires that employees be below age 65.

Wanjohi had confirmed that KU had workers on its payroll who were 76 years old, though she pointed out that these were lecturers.

MPs also sought to know why there was no ethnic balance in the hiring of staff, with lawmakers saying one community has the lion’s share of jobs.

The mandatory retirement age for public servants and teachers is 60, with the disabled allowed to work until age 65.

On people with disabilities, lawmakers dismissed Wanjohi’s claim that they were not applying for jobs at KU. This is after she said the university had only 78 workers with disabilities at its campuses.

Onesmus Ngogoyo Kajiado North): “It is not true that jobs at the university do not attract [people with disabilities]. The management should have a policy that guides the university in their employment.”

Ong’ondo Were (Kasipul) said it was good that KU had established a directorate for people with disabilities but added that it was not effective in ensuring that disabled people secured jobs.