Leaders urge Kibaki to ‘give governance lessons to Jubilee’

Former President Mwai Kibaki was asked on Friday to offer guidance to the Jubilee leadership to reconcile the country and tackle insecurity.

Senators Moses Wetang’ula (Bungoma) and Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) said the country was headed in the wrong direction due to poor leadership.

Speaking during the eighth graduation ceremony at the Masinde Muliro University, Mr Wetang’ula and his Kakamega counterpart Khalwale said insecurity, corruption and tribalism had reached alarming levels and needed to be addressed urgently.

Kakamega deputy governor Philip Kutima and MPs Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i), Paul Otuoma (Funyula), David Eseli (Tongaren) and Joseph Lokuton (Laisamis), among others, attended. Some 1,704 students were conferred with degrees and diplomas.

The leaders said the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy was pushing for a referendum to give Kenyans a chance to determine how the country should be governed.

“The referendum is not about the tyranny of numbers in the National Assembly. It is about the people of Kenya,” said Mr Wetang’ula.

But Mr Kibaki, who is the Chancellor of Masinde Muliro University, did not respond to the calls. Instead, the former President commended the management of the institution for tremendous growth and expansion of teaching and research facilities.

Mr Kibaki said the university had the potential of driving the country’s dream of industrialisation based on the institution’s tradition in technological research.

“Research activities at Masinde Muliro University are being translated into practice, and the results include stingless bees and medicinal mushrooms,” said Mr Kibaki.

He said public universities should strike a balance between expansion of infrastructure and upscaling human capital at the institutions to ensure they produce graduates who have attained relevant skills for the competitive job market.

Mr Wetang’ula said it was wrong to continue converting middle level colleges into universities since the trend was killing the training of graduates with technical skills in the country.

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, in a speech read on his behalf, said the university will receive equipment for applied science, engineering and technology. “We have set aside Sh384 million to facilitate the improvement,” he said.