University of Nairobi Declared Technically Insolvent With KSh20 Billion Debt

The Office of the Auditor-General announced on Friday 23rd October 2026 that the University of Nairobi has been declared technically insolvent, citing a total debt burden of approximately KSh20 billion.

An audit of the 2021/2022 financial year showed a deficit of KSh2.2 billion, raising the accumulated deficit to KSh8.8 billion, while current assets of KSh5,170,219,000 were outweighed by current liabilities of KSh13.79 billion, resulting in a negative working capital of KSh8.62 billion. The same report noted unremitted statutory deductions of KSh10.57 billion and a funding gap of about KSh1.6 billion linked to the differentiated unit cost funding model.

An officer from the Auditor-General’s office told the National Assembly Education Committee that “assets of Kenya shillings 5,170,219,000, resulting in a negative working capital of Kenya shillings 8,615,765,000.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Ayub Gitau, who took office in 2026, defended the university’s finances by pointing to an asset base valued at more than KSh220 billion and outlining plans to lease properties, increase student enrolment, attract research funding and revive commercial units. He said, “We are trying to salvage the situation by optimally raising our resources, and outside there have been some improvements going forward.”

Education Committee chair Dick Maungu questioned how an institution declared technically insolvent could continue to meet obligations to staff, suppliers and other stakeholders, urging the vice-chancellor to provide verifiable financial projections, clear timelines and measurable targets for any recovery plan.

The OAG’s findings on the University of Nairobi form part of a wider crisis in Kenya’s public university system, where an assessment released for the 2023/2024 financial year indicated that 21 public universities carried a combined negative working capital of approximately KSh42.55 billion. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has previously stated that 23 of the 35 public universities are effectively insolvent, with a collective unpaid bill of KSh75 billion owed to statutory entities, and that the combined funding gap under the Differentiated Unit Cost and Student-Centred Funding models reached about KSh29 billion.