NAIROBI, May 16 \u2013 The Public Service Commission (PSC) has defended its role in the stalled recruitment of the University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor, saying it conducted a transparent and merit-based process as required by law.<\/p>\n
In a statement, PSC Vice-Chairperson Mary Kimonye said it shortlisted, interviewed, and ranked candidates before forwarding the names to the University Council for appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission wishes to confirm that the interviews for the University of Nairobi are some of the most recent that the Commission has conducted in a bid to clear the backlog of pending requests for filling of vacancies in public universities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Describing the deadlock as regrettable, PSC urged stakeholders to resolve the impasse quickly to avoid further disruption at Kenya\u2019s premier university.<\/p>\n
Kimonye noted that UoN is the only institution among 13 public universities recently subjected to similar recruitment where disputes have emerged.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission, therefore, urges the parties involved to resolve the dispute in the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi amicably and expeditiously as guided by the Law in order to save the country unnecessary anxiety and stem the deterioration of the image of the Premier University,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s Ambassador to Belgium, Prof. Bitange Ndemo, stirred the storm on May 9, 2025, after he turned down his appointment as Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, citing concerns over how the selection process was conducted.<\/p>\n
The University Council had earlier confirmed Prof. Ndemo as the substantive VC, set to succeed Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Margaret Jesang Hutchinson once his diplomatic tour ends. In a letter dated May 5, 2025, the Council also named Prof. Francis Jackim Mulaa as Acting Vice Chancellor for a six-month interim period to allow for a smooth transition.<\/p>\n
Prof. Ndemo added that after receiving the appointment letter, he reached out to the Council\u2019s Chairperson, Prof. Amukowa Anangwe, to confirm whether the appointment had been cleared by the Cabinet Secretary for Education \u2014 a legal requirement. He was reportedly informed that the necessary steps had been taken.<\/p>\n
Despite a flurry of congratulatory messages that followed the Council\u2019s announcement, Prof. Ndemo said he remained unconvinced that the due process had been properly observed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, May 16 \u2013 The Public Service Commission (PSC) has defended its role in the stalled recruitment of the University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor, saying it conducted a transparent and merit-based process as required by law. In a statement, PSC Vice-Chairperson Mary Kimonye said it shortlisted, interviewed, and ranked candidates before forwarding the names to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}