Former Kenyatta University Vice Chancellors Olive Mugenda and Paul Wainaina have been summoned by the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education to explain audit queries arising from a special investigation into the university’s finances.
The committee is examining a special audit report covering the 2018/2019 to 2020/2021 financial years, which points to a possible loss of Sh6.2 billion. Lawmakers say several of the issues under review date back to the 2014/2015 financial year.
Committee Chairperson Dick Maungu said it would be unfair to expect the current Acting Vice Chancellor, John Okumu, to answer for transactions and decisions made before he assumed office.
“The issues being tackled relate to 2014/2015 onwards, and it would be unfair to expect the current Acting Vice Chancellor to answer for matters he neither handled nor has institutional memory of,” Maungu said.
As a result, the committee directed that Mugenda, Wainaina and Okumu all appear before it to respond to the audit findings.
Focus on Rwanda Campus Spending
Among the key issues under scrutiny is the establishment of Kenyatta University’s Kigali campus in Rwanda, which has been subjected to a forensic audit over concerns surrounding expenditure.
Lawmakers heard that the university spent Sh420.7 million acquiring and establishing the campus before investing an additional Sh98 million, bringing the total expenditure to approximately Sh518.7 million. The campus was later closed.
Mugenda has previously defended the project, maintaining that the properties were independently valued by both the Government of Rwanda and a private valuer before the acquisition.
Financial Management Under Two Administrations
Mugenda served as Vice Chancellor from 2006 to 2016, overseeing significant expansion in infrastructure, student enrolment and academic programmes. Her tenure also saw the establishment of the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital.
Wainaina succeeded her in 2016 and inherited mounting financial and operational challenges, including stalled projects, procurement concerns and funding constraints.
His tenure also attracted national attention in 2022 after he opposed efforts by the government under former President Uhuru Kenyatta to acquire part of the university’s land for public projects, including a regional health hub.
Following the dispute, Wainaina was suspended, sparking debate over university autonomy. After President William Ruto assumed office later that year, the new administration supported Wainaina’s position on protecting university land, and he was subsequently reinstated following court interventions.
The parliamentary committee has warned that anyone found responsible for financial irregularities will be held accountable as investigations continue.
