German institution to help set up varsity

By BRYAN TUMWA and ERIC LUNGAI

Vihiga, Kenya: The Vihiga county government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau to fast track the establishment of Kaimosi Friends University of Science and Technology.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), which is the parent institution of the soon to be established university, is also among the parties involved in the drafting of the MoU to formalise the partnership.

Vihiga Governor Moses Akaranga on Wednesday met a delegation from the Germany-based university.

The new university will be established at Kaimosi Teachers’ Training College and will be the first institution of higher learning in the county.

Second in Africa

The 180 acres on which it is situated was donated by Friends Church.  The first batch of students will be admitted in September.

Laszlo Ungvari, the president of Wildau, and Akaranga visited MMUST before signing the MoU and were received by Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration and Finance) Joseph K Rotich and his counterpart in Planning Research and Extension, Egara Kabaji.

MMUST and Wildau will partner with the county government to enable Kaimosi grow into a fully-fledged university.

“Our partnership with Kaimosi will only be the second in Africa. We have a total of 128 partnerships throughout the world,” said Prof Ungvari.

The governor also appreciated the German university for offering 12 scholarships to students from the county to study at the institution.

“Some of the students may be drawn from those who have passed with excellent scores at Chavakali High School,” said Akaranga.