Leadership at the university of Nairobi remain in disarray after the premature return of vice chancellor Stephen Kiama from six-month leave while the council-backed replacement Julius Ogeng'o was still in office.
Kiama requested the council to grant him leave in early August up to end of January 2024. In his place, Ogeng'o, the deputy VC in charge of Academics, was appointed to act in Kiama’s place.
Prof Kiama said he was still in charge even when on leave and reserved the right to get back to work at any time so long as his contract was still in force.
“Yes, I requested for, and was granted leave, but even when away, I remained in charge. I have the right to resume work any time, just like you don’t stop being a journalist even when you go on leave,” he told the Star.
Ogeng'o, Kiama said, had taken up his job of deputy.
“Ignore any idle talk in town. I remain the VC and even if I took leave for whatever reason, that does not give anybody any right to displace me,” he said.
The VC said had no issues with appointment of Ogeng’o as acting because he held forte and made decisions when he was a way.
Asked about the claims in the media that a senior government official was behind his return, Kiama said he made up his mind on his own.
"There's nothing more about this. I was just on leave for reasons like any other. May be I took leave to plan for a wedding, or travel and I can decide to return," he said.
But a source at the university suggests that leadership tussle at the institution surrounds deployment of staff at strategic dockets.
Earlier, the teaching staff led by their union’s former secretary general George Omondi said the council needed to provide clarity on the college leadership.
“We need to know from whom we take orders from. Is it Prof Kiama or Prof Ogeng’o? We know that legally, it is Ogeng’o who is in charge because the council has not revoked his appointment letter,” he said.
Omondi claimed that the VC was using the substantive lecturers' union in his fight for power and that the lot was compromised and is unable to legitimately address their issues.
“The UASU [University Academic Staff Union] leaders here are being used to stage court cases to suggest that we have preference for one or another. We are asking the council to tell us who do we take order from,” he told the Star.
The university's UASU chapter had sued the council for the change of guard.
“Prof Kiama ascended to the office through the courts. Remember he was not Prof George Magoha's (then Education Cabinet Secretary) choice. He has had issues with three councils now. What is it about him that he cannot work with people? It is a problem with him and not with the council.”
Omondi said the concern of the lecturers was also about the procedure used in managing offices at the institution and that his stance was not personal.
The substantive union officials were not available to comment for this story.
When asked about the concerns raised by the staff, Kiama rubbished them as mundane, saying that "don't listen to people who are campaigning to be re-elected to their unions after they had been removed."
When this feedback was relayed to Omondi, he said that "the professor should know that this thing is not personal but only for ensuring the rule of law and the procedures are adhered to."
"He need to regularise the operations in line with the council's rules like every staff and student abides by them. He is not above the law," he said.
When reached for comment, Prof Ogeng'o said that the question he was asked about the ongoing saga was “difficult.”
He promised to answer them later, and did not pick calls or return text messages later the Star made attempts to reach him again.
Reports suggest that on the day when Kiama returned, Ogeng'o was already in office at 6am and he was accompanied by other young men who appeared armed.
Observing the situation, Ogeng'o vacated the space and notified the council after he settled in his former DVC office.
Council chairperson Amukowa Anang'we has yet to provide the way forward on the matter.
However, Omondi said that he was aware the chairperson was consulting with the Office of the President on the matter.
