Moi University is seeking a consultant to undertake a staff redundancy exercise as the institution moves to reduce its wage bill in a bid to stay afloat.
The consulting firm will be expected to identify jobs that will be declared redundant including the reasons of each and the amount that shall be saved as a result.
The University has already written to the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) about impending lay off of staff, noting that the wage bill is currently eating up over 70 percent of its government capitation.
“The University intends to engage the services of a consultancy firm to undertake Human Resource right-sizing exercise with the aim of improving efficiency in service delivery,” said Moi University in the notice calling for interested HR firms.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Isaac Koskey in the letter to UASU had indicated that the university is unable to sustain the growing wage bill, making the right sizing of its human resource necessary.
“Towards this end, the University is considering a reduction of staffing levels that will call for compulsory redundancies,” he said.
The consulting firm will be engaged for 51 calendar days and will be expected to identify a criteria for the selection of staff and jobs to be declared redundant.
The scope of work also includes providing guidance in ensuring compliance with the law, CBAs and any other applicable University policies at all stages in the process.
Cash-flow challenges at Moi University have resulted in a build-up of pending bills, a freeze on hiring and stalled infrastructure projects.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu notes the university had accumulated Sh1.1 billion in pending bills for the year ending June 2020.
She noted that the university is likely to face legal actions for not settling pending bills, since it had been outstanding for over 90 days.
In August last year, the University hinted at closing more satellite campuses in a move to reduce costs and improve education standards.
Among stalled projects is the Moi University’s hostel cafeteria and graduation plaza whose construction started in January 1990 but stalled at 35 and 43 percent respectively after gobbling up Sh115.2 million.
Moi University, just like other public universities is grappling with a cash-flow crisis due to a drop in the number of self-sponsored students and government funding.
