UoN awards 5,342 degrees and diplomas

Abstract

There was pomp and celebration today, when 5,342 graduands, were conferred with Degrees and awarded Diplomas during a graduation ceremony presided over by Dr. Joseph B. Wanjui, the Chancellor of the University.

Among the degrees conferred was the Doctor of Science (DSc.) awarded to Prof. Geoffrey Maloiy.

The ceremony which was the 49th in the history of the University’s existence drew graduands from the Colleges of: Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Architecture and Engineering, Biological and Physical Sciences, and Education and External Studies.

The chief guest during the ceremony, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi, challenged universities to establish mechanisms for capacity training of staff and benchmark with other universities in order to achieve global competitiveness. He reiterated the government’s commitment to increasing access to higher education by establishing new university colleges and providing bursaries and other support to the institutions. He said that one of the major actions for equity that the ministry and the Constitution are stressing is mainstreaming gender and diversity and praised the University for putting in place solid policies to support the move.

In his remarks, the Chancellor, Dr Joseph Wanjui, reminded the graduands that while the University was releasing them to a world full of challenges, there are bigger things waiting that include opportunities to start or enhance careers given that they are now more complete in terms of knowledge.

In noting that this was the last graduation ceremony to be presided over by him as Chancellor, Dr. Wanjui thanked the government for appointing him as Chancellor, a position he has held since June 2003. He has presided over 18 graduation ceremonies, in the process, conferring and awarding over 70,000 degrees and diplomas, respectively. He also oversaw the facelift of infrastructure and construction of new ones. In May 2013, Wanjui inaugurated the commencement of the construction of the 22-storey University of Nairobi towers.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George Magoha commended the graduands saying that they had worked hard, diligently and smartly. He defended the University’s postgraduate programmes insisting that they remain competitive locally and internationally. He said that UoN’s postgraduate research work undergoes a rigorous vetting exercise by internal and external examiners, hence ensuring that only original work by students is passed. This procedure upholds our standards and the integrity of our academic processes. Prof. Magoha commended academic staff for their research efforts which raised over KES 3 billion, he indicated that researchers from the College of Health Sciences had been responsible for raising 73 percent of the research fund and challenged staff from other colleges to emulate the example.

The new Chairman of Council Dr. Idle Omar Farah, thanked the government for appointing him the Chairman of Council, noting that indeed it is an honor and privilege to serve his country and alma mater.

Others who addressed the congregation were Eng. Josphat Muthumbi, a member of the University of Nairobi Alumni Association and the best overall student, Juma Victor, from the School of Mathematics