The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) is drowning. Formerly known as the Kenya Polytechnic, the university has piled up debts amounting to billions. These debts have in turn left the institution on the verge of total collapse.
The institution is currently closed. It has been closed since February 3, 2025 following a strike by lecturers. The university has failed to pay lecturers and other workers for three months now.
The last pay that workers at the institution received was in November. This pay was not in full. TUK paid only 70 percent of the November salaries. These salaries were paid a few days to Christmas.
Operations at TUK University ground to a halt after the lecturers refused to administer examinations. To avert the crisis, the management had attempted to oversee themselves but were kicked out of lecture halls by the lecturers and a group of students.
Reports show that the institution has debts amounting to over Sh6 billion. For instance, as at June 2024, TUK University had not remitted a total of Sh6.079 billion that was deducted from staff salaries as Pay As You Earn (PAYE). It also had not remitted contributions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for eight months.
MMF is paying me Sh2,800 per month after investing Sh500,000
In addition to these financial failures, the university had bank loan repayments of Sh188.41 million that were unpaid, Sh26.58 million of Sacco contributions that was not remitted, and union dues that had not been paid for over two years. The institution also had third-party claims of Sh974.31 million that were not paid.
The university has also seen a whopping Sh5.467 billion lost through the TUK Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme that has since collapsed. The lost funds were employees’ retirement savings.
The university was established through the elevation of he Kenya Polytechnic University College (KPUC) to full university status. TUK was established as the first Technical University in Kenya line with the provisions of the proposed Universities Act, 2012.
