Recruit staff fairly, Ruto tells varsities

Deputy President William Ruto (second left) during the laying of a foundation stone at Moi University Pension Scheme building in Eldoret town on July 22, 2015. This was after he launched a Laptops and Tablets Assembly Plant at Rivatex East Africa Limited in the town. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Ruto also presided over the launch of the pilot laptop and tablet assembly project at Rift Valley Textile Mills (Rivatex) which has been taken over by Moi University.
  • The Deputy President disclosed that from October this year, all government services will be moved to a digital platform for efficient service delivery and principal secretaries and parastatal heads have been directed to ensure this goal is attained.

Deputy President William Ruto has urged institutions of higher learning to develop policies that will ensure that their workforce reflects the face of the country.

Universities should be run in a professional manner that reflects the face of the county and devoid of ethnic affiliations, the DP said.

This will end wrangles which, he noted, were impacting negatively on the quality of education in some of the institutions.

“Universities should avoid unnecessary wrangles and instead take the lead in innovation and research. Ethnic contests and power struggles paint our universities in bad light,” he said at Moi University when he laid the foundation for the Moi University Pension Scheme in Eldoret on Wednesday.

Mr Ruto also presided over the launch of the pilot laptop and tablet assembly project at Rift Valley Textile Mills (Rivatex) which has been taken over by Moi University.

“The management of our higher institutions of learning should up their game and aspire to get new innovation and knowledge, not contests on who is greater than who or who comes from which place,” he said.

His veiled criticism seemed to have been aimed at the troubled University of Eldoret where the vice-chancellor Prof Teresa Akenga has been facing a lot of resistance from some community leaders who want the institution headed by “one of their own”.

Mr Ruto said that the government has already set aside Sh684 million to Rivatex for the expansion of the textile plant.

The Deputy President disclosed that from October this year, all government services will be moved to a digital platform for efficient service delivery and principal secretaries and parastatal heads have been directed to ensure this goal is attained.

He hailed Moi University for the initiative, adding that ICT plays a crucial role in accelerating development and creating jobs for millions of youth.

Moi University has partnered with JP-Inspiring Knowledge from Portugal in the pilot project which will see drastic reduction of the university’s purchase of computers.

He was accompanied by Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang’, Uasin-Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago and nine Members of Parliament.