Data from the Ministry of Education shows unremitted dues for universities grew by Sh28 billion from the Sh34 billion reported in December 2020.
The institutions of higher learning are struggling to honour obligations such as payroll taxes, retirement benefits, and insurance premiums for employees.
The universities have outstanding remittances to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), pension schemes, insurance companies, Saccos and banks.
Pending bills by public universities have nearly doubled in a span of one year to Sh62 billion amid a falling student population and government capitation, worsening their financial crisis.
Data from the Ministry of Education shows unremitted dues for universities grew by Sh28 billion from the Sh34 billion reported in December 2020.
The institutions of higher learning are struggling to honour obligations such as payroll taxes, retirement benefits, and insurance premiums for employees.
“Pending bills for universities currently stand at Sh62 billion and this figure keeps growing,” Higher Education Principal Secretary Simon Nabukwesi told Parliament on Wednesday.
The universities have outstanding remittances to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), pension schemes, insurance companies, Saccos and banks.
Last November, Treasury revealed that the University of Nairobi (UoN)and Kenyatta University (KU) had dipped into a combined Sh4.3 billion financial deficit in the year ended June 2021.
The financial woes have seen Egerton University shut for close to three months and learning at Moi University paralysed following a lectures’ strike due to delayed payment of allowances.
“Most of the universities are currently insolvent as they cannot meet statutory obligations,” Mr Nabukwesi told the National Assembly Committee on Education during discussions on the 2022 Budget Policy Statement.
The cash crunch bedevilling public universities is linked to the sharp decline of students enrolling for the parallel degree programme courses over the past four years. This segment of students generated billions of shillings for the institutions.
The latest data from the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service shows Kenyan universities were left with 38,973 unfilled slots after some candidates who sat the national entrance exams in 2020 failed to take up their admission offers.
The number of students who scored C+ and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam opted to join technical and vocational education and training institutions (TVETs) increased, an indication that technical courses are gaining popularity.
These empty slots in the universities mean that the pool of learners available for self-sponsored or Module II programmes has further shrunk which has a direct impact on the institutions’ finances.
State capitation to universities has also been on the decline, following a rapid increase of the institutions over a short period and reduced government revenues.
