The most recent National Government Budget Implementation Review Report shows that public universities' outstanding debt has increased to Ksh. 62 billion, indicating that they are still getting deeper into debt.
According to the report covering the first half of the 2023–2024 fiscal year, 42 universities and colleges have collapsed under the weight of their mounting debt, which increased from Ksh.60 billion in September of last year.
A closer examination of the figures reveals that Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) is in third place with Ksh.8.1 billion, behind Technical University of Kenya (Ksh.8.2 billion) and Kenyatta University (Ksh.11.7 billion).
The report states that the respective amounts owed by Moi University and Egerton University are Ksh. 7.5 billion and Ksh. 7.8 billion.
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Public universities and schools have not been able to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, and many are on the verge of closing.
Varsities that have been unable to pay for workers' pension plans, KRA, and PAYE are in a dire situation, which has been made worse by the rising debt.
As a result, they have had to close down several campuses and have fallen behind on their contractual duties and contractor payments.
The Ministry of Education approached the Treasury in September of last year to discuss ways to waive some of the debt that public universities owed the KRA.
Other ministries were also mentioned in that report by the Controller of Budget, with Roads and Transport owing Ksh. 178 billion in outstanding bills, Energy owing Ksh. 87 billion, Education which includes universities owing Ksh. 62 billion, and Agriculture owing Ksh. 35 billion.
As of December 2023, Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies had Ksh. 447.3 billion worth of outstanding bills.
