Members of Parliament have raised serious concerns over the financial crisis at the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K).
The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education questioned the institution’s leadership on delayed salaries, unremitted statutory deductions, and the collapse of its Pension scheme.
The Committee on Education, led by Chairperson Julius Melly, visited the University to assess its operational challenges amid reports of financial distress.
During the session, the MPs expressed dismay over the Vice Chancellor, Prof Benedict Mutua’s submission that TU-K staff had not received their gross salaries since 2013. This situation has led to a backlog of unremitted deductions to pension schemes, PAYE, Pensions, NHIF/SHIF, NSSF, and the Affordable Housing Levy.
“Since 2013, no staff has received their gross salary, so statutory deductions including pensions, NSSF, NHIF/SHIF have not been remitted. In January and February 2025, we managed to have paid net salaries, not gross salaries,” stated the VC.
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He admitted that the University had only managed to pay net salaries in January and February 2025 without remitting statutory deductions.
“We have accrued pending bills estimated at Ksh 12.99 billion by 31 January 2025,” said Prof Mutua.
The University is grappling with pending bills amounting to Ksh 12.99 billion. He outlined several strategies to address the financial crisis, including seeking conditional grants from the government to settle pending bills, requesting tax waivers on interest and penalties for statutory deductions, and implementing staff rationalization to reduce the wage bill.
“To address the outstanding debts, the University has proposed a repayment plan running until the 2031/2032 financial year in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. My prayer to this Committee is that we help this University by bailing it out.” he said.
Committee Chair Julius Melly noted that a bail-out is not feasible if the University cannot make drastic changes to reduce the wage bill and generate income.
The Committee is expected to meet with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Technical University of Kenya University Council, Vice-Chancellor, and Universities Unions to address management issues and staff welfare at TUK and the University of Nairobi.
By Obegi Malack
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