Organizations the world over face challenges today which require reforms in the management and governance styles. Therefore the organizations continue to attempt to achieve more for less by creating and maintaining value and the key to facing these challenges is a motivated, well-trained and committed workforce. Consequently soft skills such as emotional intelligence have become relevant in leadership effectiveness and organizational success. Kenyan universities are not exempt from these challenges. Therefore, the Kenyan universities have to rethink their strategies to address the issue. This paper analyzed whether emotional intelligence influence to employee engagement in public universities. Emotional intelligence assists on how leaders and employees meet the daily challenges that they face since emotions either lead to improved or decreased performance. Data was analyzed from a survey of four public universities. The analysis showed that that emotional intelligence has influence on employee engagement. The researcher obtained both qualitative and quantitative data. The study was carried out in public universities in Kenya. Stratified random sampling was used and data was collected using a questionnaire. The data was modeled and then it was analyzed using multivariate techniques. The results of the findings were presented in chapter four and it was established that emotional intelligence influences employee engagement.