Don’t use Covid-19 excuse to lay off staff, Kusu tells Egerton University
Kusu Secretary-General Charles Mukhwaya.
What you need to know:
- Dr Mukhwaya told Vice Chancellor Rose Mwonya not to hide under the Covid-19 pandemic to send workers home.
- He said the situation at the university is the crystallisation and an aggregate of years of poor management.
- A report by the university proposed the retrenchment of the staff in bid to reduce the payroll cost.
- The decision to retrench the staff has also been approved by the university council.
The Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) has asked Egerton University to stop plans to fire 400 employees.
The union has also called for the suspension of all top university managers and council members pending investigations into financial misappropriation at the institution.
Kusu Secretary-General Charles Mukhwaya on Thursday said the university’s Vice Chancellor Rose Mwonya should not hide under the Covid-19 pandemic to send workers home.
“The envisaged staff downsizing exercise on the excuse of cash chaos as a result of Covid-19 is diversionary,” said Dr Mukhwaya during a press briefing in Nairobi.
The union has called on the government to investigate suspected financial impropriety, corruption and abuse of office at the university.
Poor management
Dr Mukhwaya said the situation at the university is the crystallisation and an aggregate of years of poor management, systematic corruption and misplaced financial investment priorities that are intended to line pockets of those in authority.
The union also wants the university to suspend all allowances for top managers as an austerity measure to cut costs.
According to the university’s June 30, 2019 financial statements, the institutions had outstanding imprest of Sh72.5 million for the 2018/2019 financial year.
During the same period, student’s debts stood at Sh869.99 million.
Kusu also accused the university’s management of irregularly and corruptly changing the statuses of self-sponsored students to regular.
“As a result, it is difficult to determine how much the university collects in student fees and the university losses colossal sums,” Dr Mukhwaya said.
A report by the university proposed the retrenchment of the staff in bid to reduce the payroll cost.
The decision to retrench the staff has also been approved by the university council.
“This will reduce the payroll cost by Sh38.7 million per month,” read the report.
The annual payroll cost for the university is Sh464.4 million.
In a letter dated July 13, Prof Mwoya said the university has since requested the government to consider providing Sh589.7 million to finance the layoffs.
