Kenya Insights

Tag: debt

  • Moi University to Sell Dogs, Donkeys in Public Auction to Settle Debts

    Moi University to Sell Dogs, Donkeys in Public Auction to Settle Debts

    Cash-strapped institution puts livestock, vehicles, and German Shepherds worth Sh40,000 each under the hammer as financial crisis deepens

    Moi University has announced plans to auction off an unusual collection of assets including dogs, donkeys, cattle, and vehicles in a desperate bid to raise funds amid a crippling financial crisis that has seen the institution accumulate debts exceeding Sh8 billion.

    The public auction, scheduled for Thursday, June 24, 2025, will see the cash-strapped university dispose of German Shepherd dogs with a reserve price of Sh40,000 each, alongside donkeys ranging from Sh9,000 to Sh15,000, and bulls valued between Sh50,000 and Sh70,000.

    In a notice signed by Vice-Chancellor Professor Kiplagat Kotut and dated June 16, 2025, the university said the sale of “surplus assets” would be conducted at the Main Campus Transport Department yard and Farm yard in Kesses, Uasin Gishu County, starting at 9:30 a.m.

    The auction catalog reveals the extent of the university’s asset disposal strategy.

    Among the high-value items is a Toyota Hilux pickup truck with a reserve price of Sh350,000, while pigs will be sold for between Sh3,500 and Sh7,000 each. Even used tires will go under the hammer as a single lot for Sh12,000.

    The livestock section features well-bred bulls and bull calves with prices ranging from Sh7,000 to Sh70,000, reflecting the university’s once-thriving agricultural programs that have become casualties of the financial turmoil.

    To participate in the auction, bidders must register between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on auction day and pay a refundable deposit of Sh20,000 for motor vehicles or Sh2,000 for other items.

    Viewing will be allowed on June 20 and 23, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

    Deep financial crisis

    Moi University.
    Moi University.

    The unusual auction comes as Moi University grapples with what education experts describe as one of the worst financial crises in Kenya’s higher education sector.

    The institution faces certified outstanding debts of Sh8 billion, with Sh8.6 billion owed in unremitted loans, unpaid pensions, and salary arrears.

    The university’s financial woes include failure to remit Sh4 billion in salary deductions, default on a Sh3 billion loan to Rivatex East Africa Limited, and accumulated unpaid bills of Sh1.1 billion as of June 2020.

    The debt crisis has been partly attributed to a bloated workforce and a shrinking student population that has declined from 50,000 to fewer than 30,000, according to council officials.

    Government intervention

    The Treasury has attempted to address the crisis through bailout packages. Moi University received an additional Sh1.8 billion in the latest round of state bailouts for universities, making it the largest beneficiary among distressed public universities.

    However, the financial assistance has failed to resolve the underlying issues, with the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) accusing management of flouting the Return-to-Work-Formula deal over the contentious Sh8.6 billion salary and statutory deductions debt.

    Strict auction terms

    The university has imposed strict conditions for the auction, emphasizing that all sales will be conducted on an “as-is-where-is” basis with immediate cash payment required.

    The highest bidder will be declared the purchaser and must settle the amount immediately upon the fall of the hammer.

    Failure to make immediate payment will result in forfeiture of the deposit, according to the notice.

    The university has also prohibited canvassing and warned that sales will only proceed if reserve prices are met.

    The asset disposal represents more than just a fundraising exercise; it symbolizes the broader crisis affecting Kenya’s public university system.

    Two of Kenya’s most prominent public universities, Moi University and the University of Nairobi, are deep in crisis, raising red flags about the state and future of higher education in the country.

    The auction of livestock and pets that once served educational and research purposes highlights how the financial crisis has forced the university to abandon core academic functions in favor of survival measures.

    For the 45-year-old institution that once stood as a beacon of higher education in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, the upcoming auction represents a sobering reminder of how far it has fallen from its former glory.

  • Taxpayers To Lose Sh38 Billion In Stalled Dam Projects

    Taxpayers To Lose Sh38 Billion In Stalled Dam Projects

    The National Assembly Committee on Environment has stated that sh38.4 Billion that the government made in advance payments of five stalled and collapsed dam projects cannot be recouped.

    According to the committee, the construction of the five dams has either yet to start, sluggish development, stalled altogether or their contracts have been terminated.

    The records indicate that the following dam projects have received these advance payments;

    Itare Dam got Sh4.2 billion, Karimenu II dam received Sh4 billion, Badasa Sh2 billion, Umaa Dam Sh1.6 billion and Thwake Multi-Purpose Dam has received Sh7.4 billion.

    The Committee has also raised concerns regarding the ongoing construction of Chemususu Dam and the Northern Collector Tunnel.

    Kimwarer and Arror dams that the Treasury made advance payments of Sh19 billion, that led to the prosecution of suspended Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich, including Sh11 billion debt insurance, Sh4.6 billion as loan interest and other costs were not part of the Environment Committee’s report.

    “The Auditor-General should institute a performance audit to inquire into the circumstances under which Athi Water Works Development Agency made the Sh4 billion advance payments to Chinese firm AVIC before acquisition of the requisite land for implementation of the Karimenu II Dam, leading to loss of public funds through idle time,” Kareke Mbiuki, who chairs the committee, said in the report on the Inquiry into the Status of Dams in Kenya.

    The committee has also asked the government to urgently engage the Italian firm, CMC Di Ravenna, to secure a subcontractor to complete the Sh28.9 billion Itare Dam project since the main contractor filed for bankruptcy in Italy.

    “This will save the project from permanently stalling. There is urgent need to renegotiate the terms of the loan to allow for a subcontractor to complete the project,” Mr Mbiuki said The committee said the broke Italian contractor had raised bills totalling Sh4 billion at the time of filing the report on October 11.

    The committee also wants the Water and Irrigation ministry to closely watch China Ghezuoba, the main contractor in the Sh36.7 billion Thwake Multi-Purpose dam.

    According to the committee, work progress at Thwake dam meant for hydro generation, irrigation and providing water for domestic use is sluggish yet the Chinese contractor has already received sh7.4 billion.

    Thwake project is fully Chinese owned as the report noted that it is handled supervised by Chinese contractors. No local professional has been included in the senior positions nor in the oversight of the project.

    In January 2018, China’s AVIC ventures received Sh4 billion to construct sh26.8 billion Karimenu II dam. On the ground, there is zero of work recorded after 2 years.

    In the Sh6.8 billion World Bank-backed Northern Collector Tunnel, the MPs want the Auditor-General to conduct a special audit of the Kigoro Water Treatment Plant that cost the taxpayer an additional Sh4.5 billion.

    “The auditor should establish if indeed the country realised value for money and report to Parliament within six months from the date of adoption of the report.”

    China’s Sino Hydro Corporation was awarded a contract to construct sh14 billion Mwache Dam. They valued the land at the site at sh1.8 million per acre yet they are paying land and property owners Sh550K. The committee has proposed to block any advance payment to the firm.

    The committee established that taxpayers lost Sh1.6 billion through an arbitral award to a contractor after terminating the Umaa Dam contract.

    Taxpayers also lost Sh2.4 billion in the government-funded Sh3.3 billion Badasa dam. The Chinese contractor terminated the contract with only half of the works done.