Kiambu Governor pushes for hiring of locals for varsities posts

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu wants the recruitment of vice chancellors for universities in the county to be conducted by the regional assembly, to ensure locals are given priority.

While making the proposal, which is likely to see him lock horns with the national government over the management of the institutions, Mr Waititu said currently, the majority of employees at Kenyatta University (KU) and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) are non-locals.

JOBS

He criticised the current arrangement, saying it was unfair to the indigenous people of Kiambu as it had denied them the jobs they deserve.

“KU and Jkuat, for example, are not employing our people. If you go there, the staff are not our people.

"We want to make sure that the head of such an institution is recruited through our assembly. We want to ensure that the person who is selected is from Kiambu,” Mr Waititu said, adding that nothing will make him change his mind on the issue.

SCHOOLS
He wants his proposal to also apply to other higher learning institutions in the devolved unit.

The governor further said his administration plans to come up with legislation compelling all national and extra county schools in the region to set aside one class to exclusively accommodate students from the county.

According to Mr Waititu, the schools have been discriminating against students from the region.

He said despite performing well, local students get slots in faraway regions, yet the infrastructure in the schools were developed using the county government’s resources.

“We are also going to make sure that all our schools, whether national or provincial (now extra county) have one class for the local students,” Mr Waititu said.