The Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) on Sunday, December 13, opposed plans by institutions of higher learning to trim their workforce in order to stay afloat.
The Union called for the immediate audit of five public universities across the country over allegations of corruption and mismanagement of resources.
The alleged institutions include the University of Nairobi, Moi, Egerton, Kenyatta and Kisii University.
KUSU Secretary-General Charles Mukhwaya claimed that the financial constraints faced by public Universities are due to graft.
"Financial constraints faced by public Universities are not due to bloated staff but theft, poor management of resources and utter corruption being carried out by those charged with the responsibility of running these institutions.
"We have stated numerous times in the past that some Vice-Chancellors have openly misappropriated and misapplied funds that have been put under their care," he noted.
Mukhwaya cited the alleged corruption scandals that hit Maasai Mara University, Kisii and Egerton who have been on the spotlight in recent weeks.
This comes after 300 staff from Kisii University and 400 others from Egerton University were laid off with KUSU arguing that the move was against a court order.
The Union is urging relevant authorities to launch investigations on the five University to get to the bottom of the alleged misappropriation of funds.
Universities had announced a plan to lay off thousands of staff in public institutions in a major shakeup aimed at easing the financial burden.
The exercise targets non-teaching staff who are not critical to the universities core mandate of imparting knowledge.
The move also targeted elderly staff who have failed to upgrade critical skills in a bid to streamline huge wage bills.
