Members of Parliament have ordered the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) to provide a list of institutions of higher learning that owe the agency Ksh500 million in placement fees.The directive followed the appearance of KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mercy Wahome before the National Assembly’s Education Committee on September 9.Wahome was directed to provide the names of universities, colleges and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions that have failed to remit the Ksh1,500 placement fee charged for every student successfully placed over the years.“If it is about placement, you have actually placed a student at a fee. Give us a list of how much each institution owes you, including the TVETs and everyone else,” the committee ordered.Wahome admitted that several institutions across the country have been holding onto money meant for the agency, with some universities charging students the mandatory Ksh1,500 placement fee but failing to remit the funds to KUCCPS as required.She went further, explaining that some institutions claim certain students never reported, an excuse the KUCCPS has struggled to confirm whenever it tries to balance its books.“And we have had an issue because we realized that when we invoiced them, they would say some students did not report,” Wahome stated.Yet the same institutions reportedly list those very students as enrolled when applying for capitation and scholarship money from the Universities Fund, a clear contradiction.Committee members were quick to flag the inconsistency, warning that it borders on misinformation, which under Kenyan law is a criminal offence.Lawmakers pressed Wahome to explain how much each defaulting institution owes, how long the debts have been accumulating, and why enforcement has lagged so long.Beyond the placement drama, KUCCPS actually collects its fees in stages, depending on when a student applies for university or college placement.Students still in secondary school pay an initial Ksh500, then top it up with another Ksh1,000 during their first course revision, bringing the total to Ksh1,500, charges introduced in 2023.Candidates who missed the school-level window instead pay the full Ksh1,500 upfront the moment they do their first revision as non-school applicants.This comes at a time when public universities and other higher learning institutions are grappling with mounting debts, with pending bills that have surpassed Ksh100 billion amid underfunding, unpaid statutory deductions, and budget deficits. Egerton University leads with Ksh25.5 billion, followed by the University of Nairobi at Ksh17 billion. Kenyatta University owes Ksh12.8 billion, and Moi University owes Ksh10.4 billion.
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