NAIROBI, KENYA – Kenyatta University's outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Kuria Wainaina, is at the center of a legal battle over his alleged interference in the recruitment of his successor. A petition filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi by alumnus Lawrence Omondi Chero seeks to block Prof. Wainaina from participating in the process, citing a conflict of interest and actions that allegedly violate Kenyan law.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, November 14, 2025, and certified as urgent, accuses the Vice-Chancellor of unlawfully constituting an internal committee in June 2025 to draft the qualification criteria for the next head of the institution. According to the petitioner, this role is legally and exclusively reserved for the University Council and the Public Service Commission (PSC), as stipulated by the Universities Act and the Kenyatta University Charter.

Prof. Wainaina's current term is set to expire on January 26, 2026. The petitioner argues that the VC's involvement in shaping the recruitment standards for his replacement is a breach of good governance principles and government circulars on the appointment of chief executive officers in state corporations.

Disputed Recruitment Criteria

The core of the dispute lies in the new, more restrictive eligibility requirements proposed by the committee and subsequently adopted by the University Senate in a special meeting on July 15, 2025. Mr. Chero's petition claims this meeting was convened on short notice and without a clear agenda.

The contested criteria reportedly include a mandatory 15 years of senior leadership experience and, most contentiously, a requirement that candidates must have served a full, uninterrupted five-year term as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor or a Principal of a constituent college. The petitioner argues these standards are a significant and irrational departure from past recruitment criteria used by Kenyatta University in 2005, 2015, and 2017, as well as those of other major Kenyan universities. The lawsuit alleges that these “tailor-made” criteria are designed to favour a preferred candidate and unfairly lock out other potentially qualified individuals.

During the Senate meeting, some members reportedly raised concerns that the stringent requirements could exclude deserving internal candidates and noted that deans at Kenyatta University often manage larger student populations than some entire universities. Despite these objections, the Senate approved the criteria.

Legal and Governance Implications

The petitioner is seeking court orders to quash the committee's report and the Senate's subsequent approval. Furthermore, the suit demands that Prof. Wainaina be barred from any further participation in the recruitment process and that he proceed on terminal leave. The case highlights a growing trend of leadership succession battles in Kenya's public universities, which are increasingly ending up in court amid allegations of procedural manipulation and favouritism.

Legal analysts suggest the outcome of this case could set a significant precedent for institutional autonomy versus statutory oversight in the country's higher education sector. The court is being asked to intervene urgently as the University Council was reportedly scheduled to meet on Monday, November 17, 2025, to potentially ratify the disputed criteria, a move the petitioner warns would “cement an irregular process.”

Prof. Wainaina's tenure has not been without controversy. He was previously dismissed in August 2022 following a standoff with the government over university land but was reinstated three months later. More recently, in April 2025, the Employment and Labour Relations Court reinstated him after the university council sent him on compulsory leave, a move the court declared unlawful. The court affirmed that his contract runs until January 26, 2026.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has directed the petitioner to serve court documents to Prof. Wainaina and the Public Service Commission, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2025. The university has not yet issued a formal statement on the matter. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.