A former Kenyatta University student wants the court to block the institution’s vice-chancellor, Prof Paul Kuria Wainaina, from "interfering" with the process of picking his successor.
In a petition certified as urgent and set to be heard on Tuesday, Lawrence Omondi says Prof Wainaina has established what he termed as an illegal committee to develop the criteria for recruiting the next Vice-Chancellor (VC), a role legally reserved for the University Council and the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The Employment and Labour Relations court directed him to serve the court documents on Prof Wainaina and PSC, for a hearing on the application to bar him from making proposals, or participating in the process.
“The current vice chancellor’s involvement in the recruitment of his successor goes against the principles of good governance, the government circular on appointment of chief executive officers of state corporations,” he said in the application.
Mr Omondi stated that with Prof Wainaina’s five-year term set to lapse on January 26, 2026, there is an apparent conflict of interest if the VC is allowed to directly participate in the process by setting up a criteria for qualification.
He further said the VC’s participation in the recruitment had caused delays in the process, a move that was allegedly creating uncertainty.
Mr Omondi said the illegal committee assumed non-existent powers to develop a criterion for recruitment of the next vice chancellor usurping the role of the University Council and that the VC has caused the Senate to adopt the report presented to the Vice Chancellor in its meeting held on the July 15, 2025.
“The said recruitment criteria is irrational, departs from past recruitment criterions used by Kenyatta University all known recruitment criterions used by established Universities in Kenya,” he said.
Mr Omondi said the recruitment criteria proposed by the University Senate is ultra vires (beyond legal power) and unreasonable as it contains terms tailor-made to suit specific candidates.
Among the proposals is an additional condition that the candidate should have 15 years’ experience at the senior level in leadership and administration, which is limited to the chair of a department, registrar, a dean or a director or principal of a constituent college or a deputy vice-chancellor for at least a full term in a recognized university.
The committee also proposes an additional condition for the candidate to have served substantively with demonstrable results in the position of deputy vice-chancellor or principal of a constituent college for at least a full term of five years.
Another requirement is that the candidate must have undergone extensive senior management training, including a leadership course lasting not less than four weeks cumulatively.
Mr Omondi said PSC had, in line with its mandate, declared that it had a criterion that was fair and achievable.
He added that previous recruitment criteria for 2017, 2015 and 2005 had similar terms, with a few deviations which were achievable.
The petitioner said having served two years in an acting capacity, one full term of five years and a three-year extension, Prof Wainaina should exit the recruitment platform and proceed on terminal leave to pave way for a declaration of the vacancy and commencement of recruitment by PSC for a smooth transition.
