Nairobi -The anti-corruption watchdog has arrested four senior officials from the University of Nairobi, escalating a high-profile probe into the irregular appointment of a top university administrator.
Among those detained are Prof. Amukowa Anangwe, the chairperson of the university council, and Daniel Brian Ouma Okeyo, the man at the centre of the controversy. Also in custody are council members Dr. Ahmed Sheikh Abdullahi and Carren Kerubo Omwenga.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) confirmed the arrests on Thursday morning, accusing the officials of ignoring a court judgment and abusing their powers by unlawfully appointing Ouma as the acting Chief Operations Officer.
Prof. Anangwe was apprehended by EACC detectives at Kisumu International Airport and flown to Nairobi for questioning. All four are expected to appear in court later this afternoon.
According to the EACC, the university council bypassed legal procedures and disregarded advice from both the commission and the university’s own vice chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama. Despite a court ruling issued in April 2024 invalidating Ouma’s appointment, the council pressed on.
“This was not just administrative overreach it was outright defiance,” a senior EACC official familiar with the case told , requesting anonymity to speak freely about the ongoing investigation.
The controversy surrounding Ouma dates back nearly a decade. He reportedly earned more than KSh32 million between 2015 and 2025 while serving in various senior roles at the university despite allegations he lacked the qualifications for any of them.
EACC investigators now say Ouma forged academic documents to secure the positions. His degree, a Bachelor of Philosophy from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, is not recognised in Kenya.
In a letter , EACC advised the university council to revoke the appointment, citing verification from the Commission for University Education (CUE), which confirmed that the Italian university is not accredited locally.
“The tenure of Brian Ouma as acting chief operations officer at the University of Nairobi is irregular,” the letter reads. “The certificate used to secure employment is not valid in Kenya.”
Despite this, the university extended Ouma’s contract by six months in July 2024, dismissing the EACC’s position and requesting all supporting evidence against Ouma’s academic and professional history.
In its defence, the council argued that Ouma should be given a fair hearing and called the commission’s recommendations premature.
The University of Nairobi, Kenya’s oldest and most prestigious public institution, now finds itself under public scrutiny, with critics questioning how such a glaring oversight went unchecked for years.
“This isn’t just about one man’s qualifications,” said Prof. Maria Ndiritu, a higher education policy expert based in Nairobi. “It’s about how public institutions are run and the failure of oversight mechanisms to protect public trust.”
The EACC said investigations are ongoing and further arrests may follow. Meanwhile, public confidence in university governance continues to wane, with calls growing louder for a full audit of senior appointments across public universities.
