VC with nine lives as Prof Paul Wainaina returns to KU

(Centre) Profffesor Paul Wainaina accompanied by Kenyatta University (KU) students and non teaching staff after the Employment and Labour Court issued orders reinstating him as the Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor on April 30, 2025 at the university grounds.[Kanyiri Wahito, Standard] He has been sacked, reinstated, sidelined, replaced in meetings, and advertised out of office-but every time, Prof Paul Wainaina bounces back. At 74, the embattled Vice Chancellor of Kenyatta University (KU) has once again beaten back an attempt to remove him, deepening his reputation as the university boss with more lives than a cat. In the latest conflict, the Employment and Labour Relations Court reinstated Wainaina on Wednesday as KU Vice Chancellor after being out in the cold for over a year. This follows the decision by the University Council to send him on compulsory leave in April for nine months. On Thursday, Prof. Wainaina made an emotional return to Kenyatta University (KU) as Vice-Chancellor following a court decision reinstating him to the position. The Standard has learnt that Wainaina will now serve as VC until January of 2026 to recover the time he lost while out of office. He said that after retirement, he will return back to the lecture halls to teach as his contract as a professor will still be tenable. Addressing students and staff, Wainaina expressed gratitude to a judge he described as "incorruptible" and reflected on the personal and institutional challenges he has faced. "The reason I am standing here is because we have a judge that could not be compromised. She is one of those who, at least, can vindicate the judiciary," Wainaina said. He likened his current ordeal to the events of 2022 when he was dismissed from the university after refusing to cede a section of the university land to the government at the time for construction of the World Health Organisation (WHO) regional hub. "In 2022, I was thrown out. That time, I was dismissed for refusing to be compromised. It's the same thing happening now. But I thought I should not leave Kenyatta University with a guilty conscience," Wainaina said. While he did not disclose the controversy surrounding his recent removal, Wainaina says, the circumstances mirror his removal in 2022. "We are going to do what is lawful. We will not compromise anything. I will do my best until I retire," he said. The removal of Wainaina had brewed a leadership wrangle in the institution that threatened to tear it apart. In January, Wainaina found himself fighting for his job after the Public Service Commission (PSC) advertised the position of Vice Chancellor in January 2025-while he was away on approved leave. This move came just months after the University Council asked him to proceed on accumulated annual leave beginning April 15, 2024, and appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) Prof. Waceke Wanjohi to act in his place. The advertisement sparked outrage from Wainaina, who moved to court in February, accusing the Council and PSC of orchestrating a premature exit plan. He argued that his renewed contract was still active and due to end in March 2026. The court halted the recruitment process, suspending any move to replace him until the matter is fully heard-effectively handing Wainaina yet another dramatic reprieve. But this was not the first time the long-serving academician has had to fight for his job. His tenure as KU Vice Chancellor has been one long, winding road of power struggles, political interference, and institutional clashes-some of them playing out on national television and in the corridors of Parliament. One of the most explosive chapters in Wainaina's reign came in July 2022, when he opposed a directive from the then-government to surrender 410 acres of university land for the construction of the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional logistics hub. Wainaina, citing lack of consultation and concerns over the university's autonomy, flatly refused to sign off on the land transfer leading to an ugly fallout with the government. Then-President Uhuru Kenyatta publicly criticized him and declared that any university management unwilling to cooperate would be shown the door. Days later, Wainaina was removed from office, sparking protests from university staff and lecturers who claimed he was being punished for standing up for the institution. However, he got a new lifeline when the Kenya Kwanza administration came into power later that year, Wainaina was reinstated in November 2022. But even after returning to office, Wainaina's troubles were far from over. His next battleground became KUTRRH-a Sh10 billion Level 6 facility originally built by KU but later declared a parastatal by the government in 2019. Wainaina pushed for the return of the hospital back to the university and further decried the blocking of medical students to use the facility for training. The hospital's board chairperson Prof. Olive Mugenda-Wainaina's predecessor while appearing before the National Assembly Public Investment Committee on Education clashed with Wainaina over the management of the hospital. Mugenda told the committee that the university leadership had abandoned the hospital months after its completion and was laying bare when Mugenda and her team took over. The standoff spilled into Parliament earlier this year when Attorney General Justin Muturi told MPs that three Cabinet Secretaries-Ezekiel Machogu (Education), Susan Nakhumicha (Health), and Njuguna Ndung'u (Treasury)-had failed to act on House resolutions recommending that the hospital be reverted to KU. Sources within the university say the power struggle is more than just about Wainaina's age or leadership style; it's about control of resources, strategic assets like land and the hospital, and broader political influence. Wainaina's repeated defiance of political directives has earned him both enemies and admirers, with some staffers calling him a symbol of academic integrity, while others argue he is too combative and past his time.

VC with nine lives as Prof Paul Wainaina returns to KU

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