The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, has closed down four campuses and sacked 300 employees in an effort aimed at reducing operations cost.

The closed Baraton campuses are in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii and Eldoret, and the affected students have all been admitted to the main campus in Chepterit, Nandi County.

According to the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Philip Maiyo, the institution has struggled in the past two years to clear pending bills owed to suppliers and other creditors, which amount to over Sh600 million.

Baraton University, which is run by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, was the first private university to be given a charter in 1991 by retired President Daniel Moi.

The University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, is not the only private university in the country that has been struggling, the Presbyterian University, the Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) and Catholic University of East Africa have been sailing in the same boat.

MATIANG’I ORDERS CLOSURE OF PRESBYTERIAN UNIVERSITY

Last year January, acting education CS Dr Fred Matiang’i revoked Presbyterian University’s licence following recommendations by the Commission on University Education (CUE).

Matiang’i had further directed CUE to start the process of winding up the school.

CUE had earlier recommended to the Education CS that the letter of interim authority awarded to the university in 2007 be canceled as the institution lacks adequate resources to meet its obligations including staff salaries.

KEMU AND CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY FACE CLOSURE

CUE had also proposed the closure of the Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) and Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) for a year to allow them to restructure their operations.

“CUEA, Presbyterian University of East Africa and KeMU should stop engaging the service of consultants, particularly in the governance. The consultants reflect a creation of a new governance organ that has no legal basis and whose costs are sinking the institutions into more debts. KeMU was advised by its consultant to take Sh6 billion from a funding company in China but…it is in no position to pay the loan,” the report from the CUE further said.