Several universities are on the verge of collapsing as they are not able to meet their key obligations, a new report shows.

 A scan through various reports from Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the year ending June 2023 portrays a sad state of affairs as some of the institutions have also been flagged for having anomalies in collection of fees from students while others are unable to remit statutory deductions while others have stalled projects.

 The report further shows that a majority of the universities have employed staff from one ethnic community.

 Among the universities in question are the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta, Moi, Rongo, Maseno, Garissa, Egerton, Taita Taveta and Kabianga.

 With respect to the University of Nairobi, the report casts doubt on the continuous existence of the institution as its liabilities exceed its assets.

The report also raises concerns anomalies in the collection of fees from students. The report says that a review of records revealed that 844 students with outstanding balances amounting to Sh80.9 9 million were invoiced before clearing their fees arrears which is contrary to the fees policy which requires a student to clear fees balance five weeks before the start of a new semester or within 13 weeks in case of installments.

System reports

Further, receipt data from the Student Management information System for financial year 2022/23 revealed 2,888 gaps in the receipt number sequence in the system generated reports while invoice data from the SMIS for the financial year 2022/23 for Module I and ll students revealed several gaps in the invoice lD.

 The report also raises concerns that the university Income Generating Units (lGUs) have continued to make losses in the year under review.

 For instance, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences only received Sh214,856 yet its expenditures amount to Sh2.8 million while the Faculty of Health Science has a deficit of Sh19.4 million as it only received Sh1.8 million yet its expenditure amounts to Sh37.2 million.

The report also shows that the Faculty of Science and Technology has a deficit of Sh4 million it only received Sh6.9 million yet its expenditures amounts to Sh11 million while the faculty of Diagnostic Radiology received Sh2.7 million yet its expenses amount to Sh2.7 million.