Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba recently unveiled a new team of Moi University Council, after firing the previous members .

Ogambo inaugurated the new council members under the stewardship of Prof Noah Midamba, who previously served as KCA University Vice-Chancellor before his latest appointment, in a ceremony that was held at the institution’s graduation ground.

Other council members who were introduced to the university teaching and non-teaching staff are, Edward Sambili, who once served as Central Bank of Kenya deputy governor, Ronald Wasike, Mercy Nyambura Kanyara and Anne Weseke Makori.

The CS said that the government’s move to initiate a change of guard at the troubled university was necessary to save it from plunging into despondency.

Mop-up
Ogamba warned that the government will no longer entertain laxity and poor governance at the Eldoret-based university as he announced that more painful changes were on the way to clean the institution of bad leadership.

“The government has come up with a recovery sustainable strategy that will ensure the university does not fall back to its past leadership and governance crisis, which had affected academic programmes,” the CS assured.

In his brief speech, the embattled university vice chancellor, Prof Isaac Kosgey, welcomed the new team of council members as he reiterated that he was also equal to the task of steering the institution.

The appointment of the new council members comes a week after the university lecturers protested over the institution’s failure to implement the return-to-work formula they signed last year.

This followed a notice by University Academic Staff Union (Uasu), dated January 10, which directed all the teaching staff to stay away from their workstations until their grievances are resolved.

Uasu Moi University chapter Secretary General Nyabuti Ojuki, while addressing the press, revealed that the university workers had not been paid their salaries for more than two months.

“We are wondering why Moi University is the black sheep among all the public universities in the country. They (employers) do the opposite and cause suffering to lecturers and students,” said Ojuki.

Resource allocation
However, after a week of street protests, the university administration, on January 16, released Sh113 million to pay all the workers their November and December salaries.

While on a two-day inspection of development projects in his backyard of Uasin Gishu County two weeks ago, President William Ruto promised to constitute a committee to look into problems bedevilling the university.

The Head of State revealed plans to overhaul the institution’s top management and, besides, allocate enough resources to salvage the financially-troubled university.

“We will put in place an efficient management team and allocate sufficient resources so that Moi University can thrive like other public institutions,” the president promised.

The ousted council members include former chairman Humphrey Kimani Njuguna, Clara Momanyi, Christopher Khaemba, Eusilah Ngeny who once served as Uasin Gishu county women representative, and Susan Aletia as board members.