Rongo University has declared staff redundancy to avert closure of the institution caused by lack of funding from the government.
Speaking to the press in his office, university vice chancellor Prof Samuel Gudu said the institution’s council arrived at the decision after a meeting.
“Money and funding from the government and other sources is not enough to sustain the institution, this is not only in Rongo but across other universities in the country,” Gudu said.
The institution was started as Moi Institute of Technology in the 1970s by the local community for technical training. Moi University later transformed it into a satellite institution in 2007 and four years later it became Rongo University College.
On October 7, 2016, former President Uhuru Kenyatta gave the university a charter.
“When we took over from the former institute, we absorbed over 100 staff hoping the institution would be sustainable. We also employed more,” Gudu said.
The Public Service Commission, in an audit of the university staff recommended that 137 were excess and should be declared redundant.
The situation was made dire as the university was forced to close down other departments and scrap administrative units to stay afloat due to lack of funds.
“This made us have excess staff not being utilised because they did not have a place to work and we had a payroll we couldn’t manage,” he said.
The university's annual payroll is Sh756 million, and the redundancy will clear Sh45 million from this.
Those affected are 64 staff members and 43 casual labourers. The university staff is 418 and the redundancies will bring the number down to 354.
“This reduction may not be so much significant, but it is necessary to ensure we stay afloat and not shut down this institution because we can’t support the payroll,” Gudu said.
Across the country, public universities have been grappling with a funding crisis.
“While the agreement said we had to increase salaries, the government did not release more funds to reflect the same,” Gudu said.
He said redundancies will follow government policies and laws and those affected will receive their complete severance packages.