Kenyatta University Land Saga Takes Another Dimension, More Members Of The Council To Be Affected After VC Dismisal.
Kenyatta University (KU) land saga seems to take another dimension after the VC of the institution was sacked two days ago.
The suspension of Kenyatta University vice-chancellor Paul Wainaina and the dissolution of the university council were long in coming.
The past nine days have been hellish for the quiet professor of philosophy of education.
According to Chief Secretary for University Education Simon Nabukwesi, the new council headed by former head of the University of Nairobi, Professor Crispus Kiamba, was appointed on Friday and published in the Official Gazette yesterday.
The council, which yesterday held a meeting for the first time that lasted until late in the evening, resolved to suspend Prof Wainaina for 30 days “pending investigations” on allegations of “incorrect acts”.
The board backtracked from its previous position on “firing” the VC, which had held a staff meeting and announced his departure.
To act in his stead, the council yesterday appointed the vice-chancellor (Academic Affairs) prof. Waceke Wanjohi.
At the end of the meeting, Prof. Wainaina had left and, therefore, the suspension letter was not notified.
Signs that he was confronted with powerful forces surfaced Monday when a National Youth Service (NYS) bulldozer landed on disputed land at 12:30 am.
His mission was to tear down a wall that separated the university and its offspring, Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).
A bus loaded with New York State recruits provided security.
Professor Wainaina and the university council spent much of the past week resisting the hospital’s efforts, with the support of the President’s Office, to clear 410 acres of his land.
The intended beneficiaries of the KU land are: WHO (30 acres), Africa Center for Disease Control (10 acres), KUTRRH (180 acres) and the Kamae Settlement Scheme (190 acre) squatter resettlement.
After the bulldozer demolished the wall, prof. Wainaina received a letter from Mr. Kinyua Monday at 4:32 pm. He was ordered to hand over the deed of ownership by the end of Tuesday.
According to the letter, the decision to divide the land was made at a cabinet meeting held on May 12, 2022.
“The decision was based not only on the fact that Kenyatta University holds large tracts of unused land, but in a more strategic way, because the planned interventions have a link with the academic and research programs of the KU”, reads in part in the letter. by Kinyua.
However, Professor Wainaina said the land is not inactive and is already planned. He revealed that the council had even presented Mr. Kinyua with the physical plan for the developments they intended to make, including student hostels. Cabinet Secretary for Education George Magoha also called the board for a meeting in his office, where he ordered them to waive the title deed.
