Nairobi — President-Elect William Ruto has pledged to address the challenges facing institutions of higher learning by pumping more funds to support their operations.

Speaking Sunday in Nakuru, Ruto said that all the Universities across the country are allocated only 52 percent of the funds required to run them.

"We have a national crisis in our universities, and we have set out as a government that we are going to address the issue and the crises that today exist in our institutions of higher learning, especially the Universities," he said, pledging to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court that was set to rule on a petition challenging his election as president. Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga is among nine petitioners who want the court to nullify Ruto's win, claiming it was tilted in his favour by the electoral commission.

The President-Elect said that the Kenya Kwanza manifesto clearly highlights the challenges facing the institutions and solutions.

The statement by Ruto comes at a time when several universities, including Egerton and Moi University, face closure over ballooning debts that have made it difficult for them to cover their operation costs.

The reduced number of self-sponsored students and government funding continues to affect the operations of public universities in the country, with some of them resorting to trimming their workforce.

Two months ago, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu declared Moi University a broke institution that cannot sustain its operations without government support.

The revelation came weeks after the University announced a plan to lay off more than half of its workforce due to what the institution described as serious financial challenges.

In her latest audit of the University for the financial year 2019-20, the Auditor General said the University's arrears exceed assets, placing it in a serious cash crisis

Gathugu said the consolidated statement of the University's financial position reflects total current liabilities of Sh5.7 billion exceeding the current assets balance of Sh5.2 billion.

An almost similar crisis is also facing Moi University, which also announced planned mass layoffs to keep the University afloat.

A year ago, the Eldoret-based institution revealed plans to shut down more satellite campuses as part of an elaborate plan to reduce operating costs.