The National Assembly has issued formal summons to former Kenyatta University Vice Chancellors Olive Mugenda and Paul Wainaina over the alleged loss of Sh6.2 billion and widespread financial mismanagement at the institution.
The National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education resolved to summon the two former university chiefs after establishing that the current administration completely lacks the institutional memory to answer for historical audit queries.
The investigation is anchored on a special audit report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, which covers the 2018/2019 to 2020/2021 financial years, with additional queries dating as far back as 2014.
Committee Chairman and Luanda MP Dick Maungu warned that parliament will recommend severe punitive action against any individuals found to have weaponized their offices to plunder public assets.
“The issues being tackled relate to 2014/2015 onwards, and it would be unfair to expect the current acting Vice Chancellor to answer for matters he neither handled nor has institutional memory of,” Maungu stated, adding that the committee is looking into what appears to be “massive looting of public funds and inappropriate conduct.”
The decision to summon the former chief executives received strong bipartisan backing from committee members, who refused to let the multi-billion-shilling discrepancies be swept under the rug.
No small money
Narok Woman Representative Rebecca Tonkei emphasized the scale of the financial hole under scrutiny.
“We are dealing with over Sh6 billion. This is not petty cash. Professor Mugenda and Professor Wainaina must appear before this committee and explain where this money went.”
The parliamentary inquiry is tracking a web of unsupported expenditures, systemic procurement breaches, and white-elephant offshore expansions.
Central Imenti MP Moses Kirima and Kasipul MP Boyd Were raised serious value-for-money alarms over the expenditure of more than Sh300 million to establish a campus in Kigali, Rwanda.
A previous parliamentary inspection revealed little to show for the investment, with audit reports showing the campus was established before receiving required regulatory approvals.
Appearing before the lawmakers, Acting Vice Chancellor Prof John Okumu conceded that critical development projects remain incomplete due to severe financial distress and a lack of government capitation.
Major projects that have recorded little to no progress since the audit period include the university’s Children’s Hospital, the School of Business, and the Crystal Facility.
The Auditor General’s report exposed glaring supply-chain irregularities, including the illegal issuance of local purchase orders (LPOs) after goods had already been delivered, alongside the extensive use of expired purchase orders.
While the university’s current procurement office admitted to the irregularities, they maintained that the transactions were executed by predecessors who have since left the institution.
Consequently, the committee resolved to expand the summons, ordering all former procurement heads who served during the periods under review to appear alongside Prof Mugenda and Prof Wainaina.
