Court bars merger of public varsities without Uasu input

Lady Justice Maureen Onyango on Friday stopped the merger and shutting down of 38 public universities as proposed by Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha without involving Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu).

She, however, said she was not stopping the proposal as suggested by former Finance CS Henry Rotich in his budget speech on June 13, 2019.

She said Uasu, through lawyer Titus Koceyo, had made out a meritorious case which warrants the grant of conservatory orders.

Justice Onyango ruled: "A conservatory order as prayed by lawyer Koceyo for Uasu is hereby issued against the respondents whether by themselves, their servants and or agents or whomsoever is acting on their behalf from implementing the budget statement for the year 2019/2020 on merging and shutting down of public universities without the inclusion of the union.”

MERGER

She said the merger will lead to loss of employment. Uasu had told the court the merger would disrupt learning and convolute the courses taken by students.

The judge said the transfer of students will strain the facilities affected by the merger.

The judge barred Education CS Prof George Magoha from implementing the merger plan and shutting down the public universities without the input of Uasu.

Mr Koceyo had urged the court to salvage over 10,000 lecturers in the 31 public universities and seven constituent colleges from losing their jobs.

She added: “It is further established that should the orders not be granted, lecturers rights under Articles 41, 47 and 232 being fair labour practice, fair administrative action and involvement in the process of policy making are likely to be infringed.”  

DAMAGES

Uasu sought the court’s intervention to avert a looming crisis in the universities education which is a key enabler of socioeconomic development as it underpins the achievement of the Big Four Agenda, Vision 2030 and sustainable Development Goals.