Moi University, Egerton University and the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) slashed their budgets on salaries and allowances in the year ended June, amid cash flow woes that have been building over the years.
An analysis of official data shows that TUM led in the austerity push with an 18.4 percent drop to Sh1.17 billion from Sh1.43 billion followed by Egerton University at a 6.1 percent cut to Sh2.7 billion from Sh2.98 billion.
In comparison, Moi University came third with a 2.6 percent cut to Sh4.43 billion from Sh4.56 billion.
The cuts came as most public universities struggled to pay staff due to a cash crunch caused by the delayed release of funds for student capitation from the National Treasury.
The drop in the spending on salaries, allowances, and benefits could signal a reduction in staff numbers or the partial payment of salaries.
Public universities are grappling with delays in receiving cash for student capitation from the National Treasury, despite the introduction of a needs-based funding model, which has hit them hard and exacerbated a financial crisis that has been building for years.
For example, last month, the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) announced that it was unable to pay staff their full salaries due to reduced student capitation from the National Treasury.
“As a result of the challenges (reduced capitation amount), the university has been unable to disburse the full salaries for July 2024 to all staff.
“The balance will be paid once funds are available,” Stephen Karanja, the university’s Deputy Registrar for Human Resources and Registry said in a memo dated August 13, 2024.
However, the vast majority of the institutions, led by the University of Nairobi, significantly increased the money spent on employee compensation in the period despite the growing financing constraints.
Data shows that UoN spent Sh9.28 billion in the year that ended June, an increase of 4.5 percent from Sh8.8 billion, followed by Kenyatta University which spent Sh7.1 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent from Sh6.81 billion.
The TUK came third, spending Sh3.23 billion on employee compensation, a rise of 4.1 percent from Sh3.1 billion, while Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology spent Sh5.21 billion, marking a rise of 2.8 percent from Sh5 billion.
University dons are currently on strike in a bid to push for pay increments and settlement of arrears accrued due to the inability of the institutions to pay full salaries.
The lecturers, who downed tools last week, are also protesting over the failure of the universities to remit statutory deductions even as the institutions grapple with delays in getting cash from the government.
Besides the delayed release of funds for student capitation from the National Treasury, the funding woes are also linked to years of mismanagement and a drop in the number of students enrolling for the parallel degree courses.
In the past few years, several public universities have shut down satellite campuses, scrapped some degree courses, and reduced the number of lecturers in a bid to survive the funding crunch.
