Abstract: Some universities in Africa are almost non-existent in the international ratings in terms of research. Why? This paper attempted to investigate some of the challenges encountered by scholars in some selected Kenyan Universities as a representative of other universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study used a descriptive survey design. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were used to collect data from university academic staff drawn from 3 public universities and 2 private universities. A combination of stratified and purposive sampling methods were used to select respondents. Respondents were categorized in terms of their academic ranks and sex. Random sampling was used to select the respondents proportionately from each category. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics followed by discussions. It was found that financial constraints, poor university management and ethnicity are among the challenges that hinder research in Kenyan universities. The study gave various recommendations including the allocation of sufficient funds to research related activities.