CS Jacob Kaimenyi appoints Prof Moses Thairu chairperson of Commission for University Education

By AUGUSTINE ODUOR

NAIROBI KENYA: The Commission for University (CUE) Education now has new commissioners and a chairperson.

Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi appointed Henry Moses Thairu to head the institution tasked with the responsibility of promoting the objectives of university education in Kenya by regulating and accrediting universities and programmes.

The CS also appointed James Patrick Ochieng, Wilson Langat, Millicent Omukaga, Lucy Wanja Julius and Abudo Qonchoro Mamo as commissioners.

This means that the commission is now fully constituted to discharge its mandate.

The University Act envisages a maximum of nine commissioners. It states that CUE shall have a chairperson, the Principal Secretary of Education, Principal Secretary in the Ministry for Finance and five other members.  The Commission Secretary, David Some, shall be an ex officio member.

The six names were published on Tuesday in a gazette notice no. 184 of 2014. The commissioners will serve a term of four years with effect from December 10, 2013.

The appointments came only months after junior employees of the commission protested the employment of “over age” staff in the institution.

At the centre of the storm was the appointment of four commission secretaries who were over 60 years old.

In their protest letter, the employees asked Education PS Bellio Kipsang to intervene. They argued that two deputy commissioners, Joel Mberia and Florence Lenga, had been reappointed even after exceeding the retirement age.

They also disputed the appointment of John Murage and Elizabeth Wafula Mjomba.

The work of the new commissioners is cut out for them. They face the daunting task of reforming university education that will see them ensure that admissions to public universities are in tandem with available facilities.

QUALITY

Public universities are currently bloated, with thousands of students lacking accommodation.

The commissioners will also be charged with the operationalization of the Joint Admissions Agency, created under the new Act.

They will also ensure that public universities are vetted and quality enhanced even as admissions are expanded due to the double intake system.

The mushrooming of institutions offering unaccredited degrees is another area that the commissioners will focus on.

Prof Kaimenyi has already directed CUE to close all universities offering unaccredited degrees.