PSC dashes to fill vacant top posts in public universities

The Public Service Commission (PSC) yesterday moved with speed to fill vacant positions of Vice Chancellors and Deputy Vice Chancellors at 10 universities just a day after it emerged that 29 institutions have been operating without substantive bosses.

PSC in an advertisement issued yesterday invited applications for positions of nine Vice Chancellors (VCs) and twelve Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVCs).

It said interested applicants have up to March 20 to submit their applications. Interested applicants can access details of the vacancies on the commission’s website

Nine universities want to recruit substantive VCs. They are:  Pwani, Kisii, Karatina, University of Eldoret, Machakos, South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Kabianga and Alupe.

Suitably qualified

Universities seeking DVCs are Pwani (two vacancies: Academic and Student Affairs; and Research and Extension), Kisii (Administration and Finance), Karatina (two vacancies: Academic, Research and Student Affairs; and Planning, Finance and Administration), University of Eldoret (Academic and Student Affairs) and Machakos (Administration, Planning and Finance). “Pursuant to the provisions of sections 35(1) (a) (v) of the Universities Act 2012 amended through the statute law (Miscellaneous) amendment act No 18 of 2018, the Public Service Commission invites applications from suitably qualified persons for the vacant positions in public universities,” reads the PSC advertisement.

At SEKU, PSC will replace Geoffrey Muluvi who has been serving as the Vice Chancellor’s committee chairperson while at Kisii University, PSC will be seeking to replace John Akama who has been serving as the VC at for two terms.

At the Mombasa based TUK, PSC seeks to replace Francis Aduol while at Karatina University, it will replace Mucai Muchiri.

At the Machakos University, the Commission seeks to replace Lucy Irungu while at Pwani University, it will be replacing Mohammed Rajab.

According to the advertisement, those seeking VC’s positions must be holders of earned PhDs and are serving either as professors or associate professors, have at least ten years of demonstrable leadership in an academic and/or research institution and be of high ethical standards, integrity and accountability while those seeking Deputy Vice-Chancellor posts must be holders of earned PhDs, and must be persons of unquestionable integrity.

Vice-Chancellors are the academic and administrative heads of every university. They take overall responsibility for the direction, organisation, administration and programmes of the university and have such other responsibilities and duties as may be provided for in the Charter.

The absence of the Chancellors and VCs, therefore, has a far-reaching negative effect on the fortunes of a university.

The move comes just a day after People Daily revealed how the lack of substantive chancellors and vice chancellors to oversee operations of various universities has seen universities affected in the last four years.