The Parliament has declared the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) insolvent, citing an overwhelming debt of Ksh12 billion that has crippled the institution’s operations.
To declare something insolvent means to formally recognise that an entity, such as a business, organisation, or individual, cannot pay its debts as they come due.
The decision, which was announced on 16 April 2025, follows years of financial mismanagement that has left staff unpaid since 2013 and raised urgent concern over the future of public university education in Kenya.
A parliamentary report assessed TUK’s dire financial state, revealing that the university’s liabilities far exceed its assets, rendering it unable to meet its obligations.
In TUK, the report said, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has repeatedly flagged irregular procurement practices and failure to remit statutory deductions, which have compounded the university’s debt. Just recently, the AG reported that the institution owed more than Ksh800 billion in unremitted pension contributions alone, leaving retirees in financial limbo.
The university, once a pioneering technical institution, has been unable to meet basic operational costs, with lecturers and non-teaching staff staging periodic strikes over the past decade to demand back pay.
“Since 2013, to tell the truth, no TUK employee has received a full salary,” Prof Benedict Mwavu Mutua, the Vice-Chancellor, confirmed before the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Administration.
The report also pointed to poor governance and inadequate funding as key drivers of the crisis, but the VC says the central problem is overemployment.
“Our biggest challenge is having too many staff. The government gives us Ksh63 million monthly, but we need Ksh270 million to cover salaries,” said Mutua.
TUK’s plight underscores a growing funding crisis in Kenya’s public universities, where declining government subsidies have forced institutions to rely heavily on meagre tuition fees and donor support to run their daily programmes.
The government has yet to outline a clear rescue plan for the institution, though proposals include merging it with another university or restructuring its debt.
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