NAIROBI, Kenya – The Secretary-General of the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU), Dr. Charles Mukhwaya, has blamed the deepening crisis in public universities on political interference and corruption, not flawed funding models.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM, Mukhwaya pushed back against recent narratives that focus solely on financial shortfalls, arguing instead that leadership failures lie at the heart of the rot in Kenya’s higher education sector.
“The problems in our universities are largely caused by politics and corruption,” he said. “Unless we depoliticize and de-ethnicize our universities, these problems will persist.”
Dr. Charles Mukhwaya: The problems in our universities are largely caused by politics and corruption. Unless we depoliticize and de-ethnicize our universities, these problems will persist. There was no problem with the funding model. The DUC was not bad—it only required the
Dr. Mukhwaya’s remarks come just days after Head of Public Service Felix Koskei made a scathing assessment of the sector, revealing that at least 23 public universities are technically insolvent due to financial mismanagement, bloated wage bills, and poor governance.
Koskei’s warnings have triggered national soul-searching about the state of institutions once seen as engines of development.
From the University of Nairobi to Moi University, the decline has been swift and damning.
But Mukhwaya believes the widely criticized Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model was never the real problem.
“There was no problem with the funding model,” he said. “The DUC was not bad—it only required the government to play its part. The government had promised to cover 80% of each student’s academic program expenses, but it never fulfilled that promise.”
His defence of the DUC echoes a broader call from within academia for accountability rather than reform for reform’s sake.
Mukhwaya warned that unless political appointments are replaced with merit-based leadership, universities will continue to be reduced to what he called “tribal fiefdoms.”
Koskei’s recent statements appear to support this view. In a blunt memo to the nation, he accused vice chancellors and university councils of treating public institutions as personal empires, with little regard for financial discipline or academic excellence.
“Leadership succession must be driven by competence and merit, not ethnicity or political favours,” Koskei said.
He also signalled the beginning of a tougher era: “Institutions operating in defiance of lawful authority and without financial discipline will no longer be tolerated.”
Koskei also widened the lens, extending his critique to technical and vocational institutions, which he described as the “foundation” of Kenya’s education system.
He called for urgent curriculum reform, improved gender inclusion, and alignment of training with labour market demands.
Back in the university corridors, however, there is growing anxiety that the state’s crackdown may amount to scapegoating unless the root causes — political meddling, unqualified leadership, and years of broken financial promises — are addressed.
Dr. Mukhwaya’s argues that saving public universities will require more than new policies. It will require political will, transparency, and a clean break from the culture of impunity that has hollowed out Kenya’s institutions of higher learning.
