Kenyatta University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Paul Wainaina has resigned.
This comes days after he received a tongue-lashing from President Uhuru Kenyatta over a row between the university and the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital over the ownership of a 1,000-acre piece of land.
“This is probably the last time you’ll see me addressing you as VC,” Prof Wainaina told staffers on Tuesday, July 12, 2022.
President Kenyatta last week castigated the management for opposing plans to cede part of the learning institution’s land to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is setting up a Ksh600 million emergency hub to cater for its regional operations.
“Some people see this land is their own property. No, it’s not. This is public land and you are just a caretaker. When you recognise that and the whole government approach, then you recognise the government has never worked in isolation,” the President said.
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Prof Wainaina said that the management was not consulted when the land where the referral hospital sits was hived off for the construction of Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Kenyatta University said about 200 acres have been taken unprocedurally by nearby Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH), which is overseeing the WHO project.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus on Saturday avoided the land controversy but described the specifics of the regional emergency response hub project.
“The Government of Kenya has generously committed 12.14 hectares (30 acres) of land, and $5 million (Ksh588 million) towards construction,” Dr Tedros said.
Dr Tedros said KUTRRH is currently hosting the emergency hub rent-free until the new project is ready in three years.
“The Government of Kenya is also generously providing WHO with office space for 120 staff for three years while the hub is being built…That’s why the three-year office space can help us start supporting countries in our continent,” he said.
WHO will give Ksh5.5 billion ($47 million) to cover the Kenya project, another hub in Senegal and two liaison offices in Addis Ababa and Johannesburg.
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