A damning new audit has exposed a culture of financial banditry within Kenya's public universities, revealing that over Sh3 billion in taxpayer funds has been siphoned off through ghost allowances, unexplained payments, and illegal perks.

While students protest over tuition fees and lecturers strike for better pay, the ivory towers of academia have been burning cash with reckless abandon. Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu's latest report details a catastrophic breakdown in governance across ten major institutions. The University of Nairobi (UoN), the jewel in the academic crown, is leading the pack in questionable expenditure, unable to account for a staggering Sh1.78 billion (approx. USD 13.6m) spent on "accommodation, catering, and casual employees" without a single supporting document.

This matters because Kenya's higher education sector is technically insolvent. Universities are drowning in over Sh60 billion of debt, yet this report confirms that the bleeding is self-inflicted. The "So What" is a betrayal of public trust: taxpayers are bailing out institutions that are simultaneously looting their own treasuries.

The Anatomy of the Heist

The audit trail reads like a manual on how to plunder public coffers. It isn't just about missing receipts; it is about systemic theft.

• University of Nairobi: Sh1.78 billion vanished into the opaque categories of catering and casuals.
• University of Kabianga: Spent Sh22.5 million leasing land from Telkom Kenya Limited—a deal flagged as irregular.
• Egerton University: Paid Sh6.3 million in rent to landlords without a valid contract, essentially handing out cash to strangers.
• Joint Offences: 14 other universities blew Sh268.99 million on "irregular allowances and mileage reimbursements."

Ghost Workers and Land Deals

The report paints a picture of Vice-Chancellors operating like feudal lords. At the Technical University of Kenya and Maasai Mara University, millions were paid out to staff who may not even exist, or for "perks" that have no basis in law. The issue of land leasing at Kabianga is particularly egregious, representing a transfer of public wealth into private or corporate hands with zero value for the student body.

The Accountability Vacuum

Despite five years of worsening financial crises, no one has been handcuffed. The Auditor-General's report is a distinct indictment of the University Councils—the bodies meant to oversee these expenditures. Instead of austerity, they have presided over a carnival of waste.

As the Ministry of Education begs the Treasury for more bailout funds, this report serves as the ultimate rebuttal. You cannot fill a bucket that is full of holes. Until the leakages at the top are sealed, pumping more money into these institutions is not funding education; it is funding a heist.