I want to forge united nation, Uhuru tells students

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday re-affirmed his commitment to ensuring that the country is more united and less corrupt before he leaves office.

The President, who was the chief guest during the official launch of the M-Pesa Academy in Thika, reiterated his resolve as he responded to a question by Ms Joyce Nyawira, a student at the academy.

She had asked him what he hopes to be remembered for after he leaves office in 2022.

LEADERSHIP

"I hope many things but one is that I will leave a cohesive country and two, that we shall have won the war on corruption," said Mr Kenyatta.

The academy is run by the M-Pesa Foundation and began operating in 2015. It is currently training close to 500 students from all over the country using a unique Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) model that encompasses leadership and entrepreneurship in its curriculum.

"This financial year we shall be spending Sh430 billion on education. We also intend to build more facilities to make education affordable and accessible to all," said Mr Kenyatta.

COLLABORATION

The President noted that the academy was a good example of what collaboration between the private and public sectors can do.

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed confirmed that the curriculum offered at the academy was aligned to the country's education policy.

She also noted that the ongoing KCSE exams had been rolled out smoothly countrywide.

SUBSCRIBERS

M-Pesa Academy CEO Les Baillie said it is run with funds generated from the 23 million M-Pesa subscribers.

M-Pesa Foundation chairman Michael Joseph said the academy has a capacity of over 800 students.

Former Vice-President Moody Awori and Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, among others, attended the event.