Education CS inaugurates newly appointed UoN Council, calls for teamwork

Education Cabinet Secretary, CS Julius Ogamba officially inaugurated the newly appointed University of Nairobi (UoN) Council, marking a fresh start in the institution’s governance. The ceremony, held on August 5, 2025, at the university’s main campus, signaled a renewed focus on collaboration, integrity and respect for institutional boundaries.

The new council will be chaired by Prof Chacha Nyaigotti, a respected academic and higher education administrator with a distinguished career in university leadership. His appointment, alongside other new members, is part of ongoing efforts to stabilize and strengthen governance at Kenya’s oldest and largest university.

While addressing the council, CS Ogamba urged the members to embrace teamwork and avoid the governance missteps that led to the dissolution of their predecessors. He emphasized the importance of respecting management autonomy and focusing on policy oversight rather than daily operational matters.

“Just do your job and don’t micromanage the management and staff of the university, as we saw with the previous team that purported to discipline staff and make such decisions,” said Ogamba.

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He cautioned that overreach and internal conflicts within the former council had undermined the university’s stability and hindered the formation of vital partnerships. The Cabinet Secretary underscored that the council’s primary mandate is to offer strategic leadership, ensuring that governance structures function effectively without interfering in management roles.

A key challenge highlighted during the ceremony was the university’s high number of ongoing legal disputes, with over 200 cases currently active.

Ogamba directed the council to prioritize resolving these matters to ease the financial and administrative burden on the institution. “Your first assignment is to examine these cases and see how to handle them, including compromises that could ease the burden off the university and the public so that it is back to doing its job,” he said.

He further advised the council to consult widely, including working closely with the Office of the Attorney General, to ensure that their decisions are legally sound and in the best interests of the university.

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Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Hutchinson outlined several pressing issues facing the university, including student accommodation shortages following the separation of hostel fees from tuition payments. To address this, she announced that accommodation charges would be reduced by 50 percent to make them more affordable. She also noted that the university had secured over Ksh 5 billion in research grants during the last financial year, underscoring the institution’s continued academic resilience.

The reconstitution of the council, effective July 25, 2025, followed months of leadership changes aimed at restoring order and confidence in the university’s governance. The process involved revoking and reassigning several council members, including the removal of Prof Amukowa Anangwe earlier in the year amid leadership wrangles and union pressure.

Joining Prof. Chacha Nyaigotti on the new council are Ambassador John Kakonge, Mary Amuyunzu, Samuel Njuguna Kimani and Jonathan Lodompui. Together, they bring diverse experience from academia, diplomacy, finance and governance, expected to play a pivotal role in steering the university towards renewed growth.

The new University of Nairobi Council is now tasked with ensuring stable and effective oversight, fostering academic excellence and guiding the institution through necessary reforms to reclaim its position as a leading centre of higher education in the region.

By Benedict Aoya