Tuesday, 15 July, 2025
Education Committee engages universities fund on pending bills during oversight visit
Nairobi County July 15, 2025
The Committee on Education has raised concerns over pending bills at the Universities Fund Board (UF) during an oversight visit to the agency's headquarters in Nairobi County.
The Fund's Acting CEO, Dr. Edwin Wanyonyi revealed that while the agency received Ksh 16.5 billion for scholarships in the current financial year a funding deficit of Ksh 9.6 billion remained.
"Universities Fund received KShs. 16.5 billion for student scholarships and Kshs. 342 million for operational expenses. With a defcit of over Kshs 9.6 billion," said Acting CEO, Dr. Edwin Wanyonyi
The Committee was alarmed by reports that pending bills to both public and private universities have crossed the Ksh 72.2 billion mark with private institutions reportedly owed nearly the same amount as their public counterparts, despite having significantly fewer students.
"Are you sure about your figures?" asked Hon. Nabii Nabwera. "How can the amount owed to private universities be almost equal to what is owed to public ones when the student numbers don’t match? Even the Auditor-General's special audit report flagged overpayments to private universities."
The Acting CEO was put to task to explain discrepancies in the data and directed to provide a detailed report on the status of pending bills, including monies owed to each institution.
Hon. Phyllis Bartoo questioned the duplication of roles between the Universities Fund and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), stating, "From your submissions, this feels like a duplication of HELB's work."
In response, Dr. Wanyonyi clarified that HELB administers student loans while the Universities Fund focuses on scholarships and capitation to institutions under the New Funding Model (NFM).
According the Universties Fund, the NFM, rolled out in 2023, is based on students’ financial needs and academic programmes.
Under the new model, 559,636 students were funded 2024/25 financial year, with KSh 40.5 billion disbursed . KSh 16.9 billion was disbursed through NFM and KSh 23.6 billion under the Differentiated Unit Cost (DUC) model across 40 public universities.
The Fund has also made strides in digital transformation, launching a data management system and a secure institutional portal to improve transparency and efficiency in disbursement.
However, Committee Members expressed frustration over delays in students accessing the portal. "What are you doing to improve the interface with students? Our children struggle to access the system, it sometimes takes over a week," pointed out Hon. Mary Emaase.
The Committee further demanded clarification on how equity and marginalisation metrics are applied in funding decisions, and how UF is collaborating with HELB, the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), and other institutions.
While commending the Fund for progress made in implementing the student-centered model and expanding access to university education, legislators said unresolved financial issues and institutional capacity gaps remain a major hindrance.
The Acting CEO admitted the Fund operates with only 60% of its approved staffing and has yet to receive approval for revised salary structures.
The Committee on Education directed the Fund to submit a comprehensive report on all pending bills and reconcile its data with the Auditor-General’s findings, promising to escalate the matter with the Ministry of Education and National Treasury.