Laikipia now lands elevated varsity status

By James Munyeki and Francis Ontomwa

NANYUKI, KENYA: Plans to elevate Laikipia University College into a fully-fledged university entered homestretch at the weekend as stakeholders converged to ratify the proposed charter.

The college is among 15 other institutions of higher learning set to have their status promoted by President Kibaki before he retires.

The meeting to ratify the charter was attended by among others Assistant Minister for Industrialisation Ndiritu Muriithi and his counterpart for Internal Security Simeon Lesrima. Laikipia was elevated from a campus of Egerton University to a university college in 2009. It has campuses in Nyahururu town, Naivasha and Maralal.

Mr Muriithi hailed the Government for investing Sh240 billion for development of the university.

According to a historian, Dr Waweru, who heads Nyahururu campus, Laikipia is a name of an extinct clan of the Maasai community, which lived in Laikipia County in 1870 before extinction during a war of attrition  between 1875 and 1876.

Peaceful nominations

At the same time, an inter-universities students’ peace organisation is calling on political parties to conduct peaceful nominations.

The Peace Ambassadors Kenya (PAK), an organisation that brings together over 50 local universities and colleges, has urged parties to steer through the process peacefully as the country prepares for the March 4 polls.

PAK founder and deputy patron Francis Kooli said the group was keen to see the primaries conducted differently.

“I am leading a team of over 10,000 youth affiliated to PAK and we want nominations conducted with integrity, openness and above all, peacefully,” Kooli told The Standard.

Sammy Guthua, the organisation’s officer in charge of programmes said parties should pick lessons from past nominations characterised by violence and conduct conflict free elections.