- Baya has proposed a new law that would see the university senate directly engage the President in the appointments.
- In the current dispensation, the university senate is required to consult with key stakeholders and identify suitable appointees to the post.
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A close ally of President William Ruto wants the Education Cabinet Secretary and the Public Service Commission denied say in the appointment of university chancellors.
National Assembly Deputy Majority Leader and Kilifi North MP Owen Baya has proposed a new law that would see the university senate directly engage the President in the appointments.
“The senate shall forward three names of persons identified to the President who shall within 21 days appoint one person as the chancellor,” the MP’s bill reads.
Baya, in the Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2024, proposes that the senate shall ensure that at least one person shall be of either gender.
“The principal object of this bill is to amend the Act in order to allow the President to appoint chancellors of public universities devoid of the current procedures set in the Act,” the MP said.
In the current dispensation, the university senate is required to consult with key stakeholders and identify suitable appointees to the post.
Five names are thereafter proposed to the senate and submitted to the Public Service Commission for shortlisting and identification of three suitable candidates.
The PSC is then required to forward the names of the top three candidates to the Cabinet Secretary for onward transmission to the President.
Upon receiving the list of three candidates, the President is to pick one person and publish the name in the Kenya Gazette.
Baya wants the current process abandoned, saying it is complicated. “The current procedures discourage persons applying for the position of chancellor because the procedure is long and time consuming.”
He holds that the targeted persons are usually eminent personalities in the country “who may not have time to go through the entire procedure.”
Should the proposal sail through, the senates of universities will recommend appointees within 90 days after the seat of chancellor falls vacant.
The proposal is among a raft of law changes presently before MPs that stand to significantly change their mode of operation.
In a separate bid by another Ruto ally, universities face a ban from offering diploma and certificate courses.
Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru wants students pursuing diploma and certificate courses admitted to other tertiary institutions.
He says the referenced institutions have suffered low enrolment for years, and universities should only offer postgraduate diplomas and postgraduate certificates.
Chancellors of universities, if the proposal becomes law, will be barred from awarding basic certificates and diplomas.