Please help society excel, universities told

Mount Kenya University students celebrate their graduation at Mount Kenya University graduation Pavilion, Happy Valley Grounds, on December 9, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • MKU chairman Simon Gicharu regretted that poor financial management was ailing institutions of higher learning in the region despite having the best expertise.
  • The institutions were advised to consider outsourcing such services.
  • Already, the institutions are facing cash crisis due to declining number of students attaining required grades to pursue degrees.

Universities in East Africa have been urged to embrace financial produce and focus on research to compete with other institutions globally for students.

Mount Kenya University (MKU) chairman Simon Gicharu regretted that poor financial management was ailing institutions of higher learning in the region despite having the best expertise.

“Higher learning institutions are incurring unnecessary wastages of resources which should be going to research to support development of their respective countries,” said Mr Gicharu, adding that some of capital projects that are being initiated by learning institutions are not for the benefit of students.

Mr Gicharu was speaking during a key note presentation on funding of universities at Makerere University Business School forum recently, which was attended by the Ugandan vice-president Edward Ssekandi, among others, in Entebbe.

Last year, the Kenyan government announced plans to employ lower cadre staff in public universities such as cleaners, cooks and security guards on contracts as opposed to permanent and pensionable terms to cut down on costs.

CASH CRISIS

The institutions were advised to consider outsourcing such services. Already, the institutions are facing cash crisis due to declining number of students attaining required grades to pursue degrees.

Some institutions have also been unable to remit statutory deductions to relevant agencies in Kenya running into billions of shillings.

Mr Gicharu regretted that young people in Africa continue to die in the Mediterranean sea while going to look for greener pastures in Europe yet the region has been potential to create opportunities for them.

Mr Gicharu urged African universities to create opportunities through research and innovation so that people do not have to die trying to access better lives.

He said universities have the necessary expertise to benefit from government tenders through provision of consultancy services due to a pool of well-trained human resources capital.

CHALLENGES

The MKU chairman told the gathering that while undertaking post-postgraduate studies on entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom, he witnessed the challenges faced by African students in search of higher education in Britain.

“I resolved to make a difference. I committed to enhance access to affordable, and equitable higher education in Africa. This is the vision that propelled the establishment of MKU,” said Mr Gicharu.

He narrated to the congregation how he started the university in 1996 as a very small computer college in a rented premises in Thika.

“From a computer centre, we transited to a middle-level college in 2002. In 2008, we applied and were granted the Letter of Interim Authority to establish a university. In 2011, we were granted a charter.

Today, MKU operates 13 campuses/ODEL centres, in Eastern Africa region,” explained Mr Gicharu.

He said the total student population today is over 35,000 and it has graduated over 70,000 students

“Our total worth today is Sh20 billion. Since inception, we have spent Sh10 billion on capital Development, Sh13billion on human resource and Sh1 billion on student welfare,” he said.