Jkuat says Sh15m Kigali campus debt paid, assets safe
Jkuat Vice-Chancellor Victoria Wambui Ngumi interacts with a student after the opening of a career fair on February 6, 2019. PHOTO | LINUS OMBETTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Chief Corporate Communication Officer Dr Hindzano Ngonyo said the university made the payment and was therefore not at risk of losing its assets in Kigali.
- The university announced closure of the Kigali campus in 2017, following a government directive.
- Some of the students were transferred to its Juja campus in Kiambu County while others were distributed to Rwandan universities under the credit transfer programme.
- Meanwhile, Microsoft officials toured Jkuat as it seeks partners in the establishment of its first regional development center in Africa, the seventh of its kind globally.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) says it does not owe the owner of the facility it used in Rwanda before the campus was closed.
Chief Corporate Communication Officer Dr Hindzano Ngonyo said the university made the payment and was therefore not at risk of losing its assets in Kigali.
“The university has, as per the agreement with Mr Furaha Eugenes, the owner of the facility in Kigali, paid the required Sh15 million,” Dr Ngonyo said in a statement on Friday.
The university announced closure of the Kigali campus in 2017, following a government directive.
Some of the students were transferred to its Juja campus in Kiambu County while others were distributed to Rwandan universities under the credit transfer programme.
In 2016, the then Vice-Chancellor Mabel Imbuga told the parliamentary Public Investments Committee that Jkuat used Sh10 million to start the Arusha centre and Sh21 million to open the Kigali campus.
The Arusha campus was established in November 2010 and the one in Kigali in 2012.
MICROSOFT PROJECT
Meanwhile, Microsoft officials toured Jkuat as it seeks partners in the establishment of its first regional development center in Africa, the seventh of its kind globally.
According to Perry Clarke, the software giant's Vice President in-charge of Office 365, Microsoft to spend more than Sh1 billion in at least five years on the project, in collaboration with local partners and the government.
While receiving the team that Mr Clarke led, Vice-Chancellor Victoria Wambui Ngumi said they had a beneficial working relationship and that Microsoft was one of the critical partners in the university's initiative on the local assembly of laptops.
Prof Ngumi noted that the development center will boost ICT infrastructure and capacity building in Kenya.
She urged the officials to select Jkuat as one of the partners, citing the pool of talented students and faculty.
“Jkuat is one of the most preferred learning institution among employers, parents and students," she said.
"Our attractiveness can be attributed to technical expertise, knowledge of industry by both staff and students, industry involvement through internships, curriculum development and mentorship programmes."
