The fate of thousands of engineering students from universities whose programs have not been accredited now hangs in the balance as the term for the Engineering Board of Kenya (EBK) expired two months ago.
The Standard has established that the leadership vacuum at the EBK is set to keep the students at home longer, setting the stage for another crisis in public universities.
Sources at the EBK told The Standard that the secretariat cannot make a binding decision on crucial matters such as accreditation of programs, as this requires a fully constituted board.
Dionysius Maina Wanjau chaired the outgoing EBK board and his deputy was Prof Francis Gichaga who represented the universities.
The board was appointed for a period of three years through Gazette Notice of August 31, 2012 by the then Minister for Roads, Mr Franklin Bett.
Wanjau was also appointed as EBK chair for a period of three years with effect from September 14, 2012.
The development also puts to question the composition of the Council of Legal Education (CLE) nearly a year after President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to the miscellaneous amendments to the Legal Education Act, 2012.
The amended law now requires that the chairperson of CLE is appointed by the President and not the Attorney General as has always been the case.
The new law also cuts in half the representation of the Law Society of Kenya to the Council and also expands the membership to include representation of public and private universities.
Universities management have questioned whether the CLE secretariat have the legal mandate to close down programs and also demand teaching out of certain programs under the current composition of the Council.
LSK chairperson Eric Mutua yesterday said the Council is properly constituted, noting that the transitional clauses are clear.
The clause reads under section 49 (1) (c): "All officers of the former Council shall become the corresponding officers of the Council and, subject to the provisions of any rules made under this Act, shall continue in office for the period of which they were appointed or elected as officers of the former Council."
Universities now say the transitional clause only talks about 'rules' and not the 'amendments.'
"There is no transition clause that expressly talks about the Council members. We doubt credibility of decisions being implemented by the CLE as currently constituted," said a senior member of one the public universities, which is also affected by the recent directive of CLE.
Director of Kenya School of Law (KSL), PLO Lumumba said the current members of the Council could only leave office after the new ones come.
"There can never be a hiatus in law," said Lumumba.
Council Chief Executive Officer Kulundu Bitonye said only seven institutions have fully been accredited.
Namely, African Nazarene University School of Law, Kenyatta University School of Law, Kisii University School of Law and Riara University School of Law, Strathmore University School of Law, University of Nairobi School of Law (Parklands Campus) and Kabarak University.
And on engineering programs, EBK says only engineering programs at the University of Nairobi, Moi University, JKUAT, Kenyatta University, Dedan Kimathi and Egerton University have been approved.
This means that all the other programs not listed under these universities are not approved, an issue that has created panic among the students
Technical University of Kenya already sent home more than 1,000 students following the directive by EBK.
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology students and some from Egerton University pursuing engineering courses were sent home after EBK announced that their courses were not accredited and hence will not be registered to practice.
