Utalii College on its knees as report calls for overhaul

Business

By John Njiraini

The country’s premier training centre for hospitality — the Kenya Utalii College — could grind to halt due to severe financial mismanagement, poor quality of services, nepotism and widespread corruption.

A taskforce appointed by Tourism Minister Najib Balala last year has come up with a harsh indictment of the college, reputed for training highly qualified employees in

A front view of Kenya Utalii College.

the hotel and aviation industry in the region and the rest of the world.

The report by the taskforce calls for the sacking of all 836 employees, including the top management, and thorough restructuring of operations.

"Utalii, which was initially designed to serve as a model institution, is currently in a deplorable state," says the report exclusively obtained by The Standard.

Vegetable storage in a mess making food contamination likely.

Mr Mohammed Hersi, the general manager of Sarova Whitesands Hotel, chaired the taskforce.

Other members were Ms Joanne Mwangi (vice-chair), Mr Mark Abbema, Mr Karl Hala, Mr Patrick Mulindi and Ms Vikki Mwendwa.

And in a move towards implementing the recommendations, the Tourism minister last week appointed Dr Kenneth Ombongi the new college principal.

Acting capacity

Ombongi replaced Ms Betty Makawiti, who has been acting since November when Mr Thomas Duda was retired.

The report explains how Utalii has sunk from a centre of excellence in hospitality training since inception in 1975 to a shell that cannot compete with similar regional institutions.

From physical facilities, training equipment, student admission, qualification of employees and their scheme of service to financial management and external commercial services, Utalii’s operations have literally gone to the dogs.

The report states that it makes little business sense for the 50-room hotel to have 129 employees, and college 707 against 700 students.

The machine room with wiring exposed and extinguishers missing hence high risk of fire.

It also notes that while its core business is training, and the hotel just a support service, Utalii is engaging in other commercial activities.

Some of the commercial activities include managing the Kenya Commercial Bank Management Centre in Karen, Nairobi, running Masinga Dam and Kenya School of Monetary Studies resorts.

Other activities are outside catering and laundry services.

"These cause a tremendous strain on infrastructure and financial resources," states the report.

The institution lacks an internal audit department and the procurement system is full of loopholes.

Besides, the money generated in the overlapping functions of the college and hotel do not show the correct profit and loss positions.

Due to ineffective accounting systems, Utalii has a Sh158 million debt, Sh52 million owed by the Kenya Revenue Authority in VAT refunds.

Despite stiff competition from similar institutions, Utalii has refused to adapt to changing times and admit regular students on non-residential basis, according to the report.

Bribery claims

"This has meant that demand for the 20–30 slots for most courses is extremely high and cases of students bribing for admission are rampant," says the report.

As a result of conservatism, the college has only trained 24 per cent of hospitality sector employees while more than 50 per cent have no formal training.

Although the college has 80 full-time academic staff, only 40 are degree holders. Fifteen 15 per cent have master’s degrees while one has a postgraduate diploma.

It gets worse. The college’s members of staff with lower qualifications get higher salaries than the qualified.

In 2004, the Directorate of Personnel Management recommended harmonisation of staff salaries and duties. They were never implemented.

The institution’s physical facilities, that are more than 30 years old, are in a sorry state, with some roofs leaking and toilet facilities lacking proper maintenance. This has led to downgrading of Utalii Hotel from a five-star to a three-star resort.

On hygiene, hotel rooms, kitchen and public areas are not properly maintained and vegetable storage facilities are in a mess, with the likelihood of food contamination real.

It is ironical that the college teaches ways to ensure standards on fire, safety and health regulations, but do not apply at the hotel.

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