Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has suffered a setback after the High Court overturned his recent decision to fire the University of Nairobi Council Chairperson Professor Amukowa Anangwe.
In the ruling delivered by Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the High Court on Wednesday, the court ordered the immediate reinstatement of Anangwe as chairperson of the UON council and barred Ogamba and the Attorney General from appointing a replacement.
Additionally, the judge directed that the orders to Ogamba would be in effect until the case filed by the professor challenging his dismissal was heard.
Anangwe had moved to court seeking orders suspending the decision of Ogamba to fire him from the university's council following complaints that had been raised by the University Academic and Staff Union(UASU).
UASU in a statement delivered on February 19, threatened to strike and cripple all the services at the institution over what they termed as a systematic law flouting.
Further, the union through its UON charter chairperson Richard Bosire urged the CS to reign in on the matter, accusing Anangwe and the council of sabotaging operations at the university.
''We shall stop all activity at the university in seven days. The University of Nairobi is dying because of looting!'' UASU warned.
''We call upon CS Migos Ogamba to take quick action because we are not ready to watch and see the university die before our eyes,'' warned Bosire.
They further accused the council of hatching a plan together with powerful government officials to grab a piece of land opposite the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and another one near Hotel Boulevard along James Gichuru Road.
In his response to the matter, Ogamba through an announcement published on the gazette notice, revoked the appointment of the academician, less than a week after the concerns.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 36 (1) (a) of the Universities Act, 2012 as read together with section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Education revokes the appointment of Professor Amukoya Anangwe as the Chairperson of the Council of the University of Nairobi," the notice read in part.
Ogamba's actions seemed to had been fueled by the National Assembly's Education Committee's demands that faulted the Ministry of Education for failing to address the management issues at the university, warning that inaction could lead to its downfall.
