Egerton University is broke and unable to pay salaries. This December, the institution has admitted that it shall not be able to pay full salaries to any of its employees.

In a memo to all staff dated December 22, the acting deputy vice-chancellor (Administration, Planning & Development) Prof. Richard Mulwa said that a meeting held by the university board of management resolved that the staff will not be paid full salaries beginning this December. “It was determined that the University will not be in a position to pay full salaries from December 2021,” the notice from the meeting stated.

Egerton University joined other mainstream universities such as the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, which have all publicly come out to announce that they are facing financial difficulties.

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In December 2019, Egerton University’s Nairobi City campus was shut down over what the university said were funding challenges alongside dwindling student numbers. At the time of this closure, the city campus – which had over 500 students, was yet to pay lecturers, most of whom withheld students’ results in protest.

Following the crises that have hit universities, vice chancellors have been pushing the government to increase fees by as much as three times in a bid to ease the financial mess. The University of Nairobi has been at the forefront, having increased its admission fees for new students in 2021.

According to the National Treasury, the University of Nairobi had a deficit of Sh. 2.17 billion in the year to June, up from Sh. 1.62 billion a year earlier. Egerton University needs Sh. 1.3 billion to break even while Moi University has a deficit of Sh. 1 billion. Technical University of Kenya has a shortfall of Sh. 769 million to remain operational. Kenyatta University on the other hand has a deficit of Sh. 2.13 billion.