Baraton University closes four campuses due to high wage bill

The University of Eastern Africa Baraton (UEAB) has so far closed four campuses and 300 staff have lost their jobs to reduce wage bill and helped it remain afloat.

The affected campuses include Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii and Eldoret. All the students who were in these campuses have been re- admitted to the main campus located in Chepterit, Nandi County.

On Tuesday the University Vice Chancellor, Professor Philip Maiyo said that the institution has been struggling in the past two years clearing pending bills of over Sh600 million owed to suppliers and other creditors.

“Because of the mismanagement in the past, Baraton University, which was the first private university to be given charter in 1991 by the retired president Daniel Moi, suffered greatly,” said Prof Maiyo.

The VC added that the university is implementing strategies to help it get back on track. He further admitted that the university had lost a number of lecturers, especially foreign ones, after delayed payment and a number of courses deemed unnecessary has been scrapped.

“We have implemented changes to reduce mismanagement and the university is now stable. We owe nobody anything and the staff retrenchment had been conducted fairly, and those released were paid all their dues,” he revealed.