Fight for key posts part of the problem at KU

A quiet but high-level fight for top administrative jobs at Kenyatta University may have contributed to the recent riots, investigations show.

The examination deadline may now have put the lecturers, who are entangled in a pay dispute with the university, into one boat, where both groups cried foul over the way they have been treated by the administration.

On different occasions this semester, some lecturers met student leaders, especially before union elections last month, at three restaurants on Thika Road. The universal but undocumented resolve was how the vice-chancellor could be pushed out of office.

To show that lecturers at the university have a bone to pick with Prof Olive Mugenda, the clamour for her removal has now been taken up by their national organisation, the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu).

This decision was reached in a bid to cushion the KU lecturers from open antagonism with the administration. “Uasu national officials cannot engage in petty politics. So when they chorus that she should go, then it is a serious matter,” said a national Uasu official.

“History has shown that when union officials take up a fight against an administrator, rarely does one survive,” added the official who asked not to be named for fear of dragging his name into the crisis.

Some lecturers met students before the riots to plot how “change” could be brought within the students union and administration. Most of the students who attended the meetings were successful in the union elections held early last month.

A student leader who attended the night meetings said: “We met our lecturers and the issue of the administration’s loss of touch with their welfare came out very strongly. The majority did not hide who they wanted out of the way.”

Grievances

The leader could not, however, reveal whether the option of a massively destructive riot was considered. “Our converging point was that both groups felt uncared for. Pressure was vital to air our grievances. But this pressure was not specific,” said the student who vied for a top students union post but lost.

This clamour has reared its head three years down Prof Mugenda’s five-year term, an indication that positioning for her succession, and that of senior managers, could have started in earnest.

Interviews revealed that some of her rivals for the VC post in March 2006 have been trying to discredit her.

A source at one of the meetings confided that at least one of the former competitors communicated to those in attendance through a telephone conversation.

“She started building structures instead of improving academics. A university needs books and equipment and not smart flower lawns,” said another professor who competed with her.

The VC acknowledged that some of the disgruntled competitors can resort to undermining. “It happens everywhere. When you win a contest, those who lose out can become your critics. Others forget it and join you,” she said.

Her deputies

When the focus is not on the VC post, critics turn to her deputies, with the academic division generating most heat. Since the departure of Prof Jude Ong’ong’a as the deputy VC in charge of Academics, four professors have acted in the last two years.

The high turnover has caused disquiet among academics, with one of those who temporarily acted crying foul over his removal. Some of them are said to have gone on an all-out war to punch holes into the current style of leadership.
“I do not know why I was removed. How was I supposed to prove my ability within a few months? And that is the problem with the system. Today, you are good, tomorrow you are incapable,” said one of the professors who was removed.

Instability in the division, that deals with examinations, the professor says, has caused all the mess at the university.

Asked about this, the VC said: “All these people are qualified, but their performance may not have been commensurate with the demands of the office. Redeployment is allowed.”

Another source within the university’s senate accused a group of lecturers from Western Province of constantly fighting to have one of their own as VC, or some of the deputies.

This group was active during the removal of former VC George Eshiwani in 2003. They accused Prof Eshiwani of building an empire of his own and demanded he be replaced by their own. At the time, Prof Mugenda was Prof Eshiwani’s deputy.

“That is how the less known Prof Standa came in. The government yielded to pressure to have someone from Western Province appointed,” said one of the vocal lecturers who was then an official of Uasu.

When Prof Standa left, members of this group, some of whom sit in the senate, voted against Prof Mugenda when they met at a city hotel in the final search for a vice-chancellor.

Short stint

One of them is a former dean of students. The dean’s short stint during Prof Mugenda’s first year is largely blamed on opposition to the vice-chancellor.
The dean was one of the voices said to have opposed the VC’s inauguration in 2006. The other is a former dean in the School of Education.

“He has always eyed the post of DVC (deputy vice chancellor), Academic. He says time has been ripe for him to occupy the position. He is one of the disgruntled forces,” a member of the university’s administration confided.

When Saturday Nation talked to the former dean on Thursday, he denied ever being frustrated for being bypassed in the appointment.