Kenyans’ affinity to ethnicity and regional politics has put on the line the future of more than 10,000 students, hundreds of academic and subordinate staff which say they live in daily fear of the standoff that has been raging for more than two years now.

Suppliers and creditors are also wary they might lose their invstments if the five-year impasse over the running of the academic and non-academic programmes of the university.

The students, teaching and subordinate staff at the Maasa Mara University now want the long-running saga between the institution’s council and the reinstated Vice Chancellor Mary Walingo be put to rest.

The saga took a new turn last month when Walingo was barred from accessing university premises by Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Joseph S. Chacha despite existing court orders.

In a circular dated January 23,2023 and referenced VCO1/037/2022/VOL.5 (403), Prof Chacha warned staff against interacting with Prof Walingo, who has been granted by the Nakuru High to orders to discharge duties pending the determination of the primary case of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds.

In the circular, Prof Chacha warns syaff, “Note that Prof Walingo’s access to the University is in contravention of existing court orders which bar her from accessing the university. You are hereby notified that Prof Walingo has not been reinstated by the university, neither are there orders directing her physical resumption of duty. The university has orders barring her from accessing the university and staying the decision of her reinstatement and to work on suspension basis by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Based on available legal documents, the possibility of highly placed actors that are determined to use extra-judicial means – tribal and political – to out Prof Waling is high. The forces are apparently averse to orders Nakuru High Court that reinstated Prof Walingo on December 28, 2022.

In the conservatory orders, Justice CM Kariuki directed that “a conservatory order is hereby issued staying the proceedings in Nakuru Anti-Corruption Case No E0002 of 2020 (Republic – vs Professor Mary Khakoni Walingo and 4 others). The orders were extended on January 23, but Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Chacha, has refused to budge and let in Prof Walingo, raising concerns about the open defiance of court orders. Prof Chacha in his circular claims to have not been served the orders.

At the centre of the controversy that began in September last year is the reluctance of the university council not to fully comply with the directive by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Labour and Employment Court to reinstate Prof Walingo, pending determination of a case in which the don is accused of abuse of office and corruption.

In the ever-mutating story of the publicly-funded institution, staff at the university are apprehensive that the stand-off has created an avenue for financial-fiddling in the absence of a substantiative vice chancellor against the backdrop of court orders that are essentially ignored.

Of curious interest is the role of a high-ranking manager of a leading media house, Royal Media, who has vowed to resign if Prof Walingo, cleared to resume duty by the labour court, accesses her office. The media manager is reportedly acting at the behest of Maasai community political elite, who are opposed to the management of the university by a member of the Luhyia community from western Kenya.

On account of conservatory orders by High Court, Prof Waling is supposed was expected to resume duty the day they were issued.

It is noteworthy, Walingo points out, the case acting VC refers to in his circular refers to (the one by Public Service Commission in its letter) to reinstate VC to employment is not currently there at the magistrate’s court.

Prof Walingo argues that the legal interpretation of the two High Court orders and that of Labour Court are sufficient to take back VC into the office immediately.

She observes that it is evident from a legal point of view that no Kenyan citizen’s complaint, including Ministry of Education, University Council, University Board of Management, university employees and ordinary citizens about money getting lost from university accounts and reporting officially to required authorities to initiate the legal processes.

The don further argues that in the absence of substantive evidence to incriminate her there is not other conclusion to make other than “it was a reactive response, tribally and politically instigated through Citizen TV owned by Royal Media Services.” Walingo accuses a senior Royal Media Services of being behind the corruption allegations her accusers have failed to prove.

It is alleged that the senior Citizen TV manager, a Maasai, threatened to resign unless the documentary that was headlined Mara Heist was aired in full by the station.

“Up to now the council has never established that money was lost from university accounts. The Auditor General reports have never established that money was lost from the university accounts! The DCI (directorate of Criminal Investigations) has failed to indicate fraudulent loss of money from university accounts as alleged from its instigations since 2019,” Prof Walingo says.

It is worth noting that the current cabinet secretary for education Ezekiel Machogu hails from the same community with Acting VC Prof Chacha, hence the procrastination in effecting court orders.

When the impasse was brought to the attention of Prof Machogu recently, he explained without giving details that the matter is still under investigation – nearly five years since the alleged heist was first reported in 2019.

So far it not clear the memory lost was Ksh20 million ($155160), Ksh200 million ($15.5 million), Ksh176 million ($13.6 million) or Ksh177 million ($13.7 million).

In documents seen by Tell, Prof Walingo raises the questions, “Can you endlessly try somebody on something that doesn’t exist? No iota of evidence has been put forward so far. Because of this failure to provide evidence, the University Council or Auditor General have ever since created what is called suspense account for this non-existent money so as to balance their finance records.”

Prof Walingo says she was the first to notice the malpractices in finance department when she took over the university in 2014. She says she hired a private company through university procurement procedures to do forensic audit and the report, which is available, has been ignored by the university council, DCI, the cabinet secretary.

“The financial malpractices were immediately reported to DCI, not once, not twice, but no action was taken. Evidence of letters (sent to DCI) exist. Instead, the DCI took a low profile and did not respond to investigate the matter I reported as the VC/CEO of the institution and started looking for ways of how to turn things on her in future,” the suspended VC explains.

In addition, she says, “This is a political war-cum-tribal war that I am facing – innocently. CS Ezekiel Machogu is unfortunately becoming part and parcel of this dirty game; instead of stopping it and restoring sanity at the institution that faces collapse.”

Students and staff that have been following the saga now want Prof Walingo be immediately allowed to discharge her duties

• A Tell report