The University of Nairobi (UoN) Council has committed to strengthen the university’s funding structures and grow support for research as part of a raft of new strategies as Kenya’s biggest institution of higher learning moves to restore its shine that has waned over the years.
This comes at a time when UoN has named a new Vice-Chancellor, Prof Stephen Gitahi Kiama, after the Council rejected a request by Prof Peter Mbithi to serve for a second term.
UoN Council Chair Prof Julia Ojiambo, while unveiling a new strategic plan for the university recently, said the Council planned to improve the institution’s cash flow and value.
Some of the strategies that will be employed to improve UoN’s standing include increasing funding to support research, scholarly and creative activities and also bettering the quality of programmes offered.
Prof Ojiambo said the Council will seek to increase the number of students in all programmes with low enrolment, improve staff welfare, learning and teaching facilities and also better the teaching and learning environment at UoN.
“The plan aims at continuously improving the university’s cash flow and its value,” she said.
Public universities are facing various challenges, including budgetary constraints following reduced State capitation amid increasing demand for education.
Others are governance and structural issues, inadequacies in oversight functions of councils in line with the Universities Act, and piecemeal uncoordinated policy and legislative reforms that, in turn, impinge statutory functions of councils.