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Other name | KU |
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Former name | |
Motto | Elimu ni Nguvu |
Motto in English | "Education is strength" |
Type | Public |
Established | 1 September 1985 , as Kenyatta University [1] |
Academic affiliations | ACU |
Chairman | Shem Migot-Adholla [2] |
Chancellor | Amb. Francis K. Muthaura, Ebs [3] |
Vice-Chancellor | Paul Wainaina [4] |
Academic staff | 1,500+ (2016) [5] |
Administrative staff | 3,500+ (2015) [6] |
Students | 67,905 (2023) |
Location | Kahawa, Nairobi , Kenya 1°10′59″S36°55′34″E / 1.183056°S 36.926111°E |
Campus | 13 campuses, 1,000 acres (400 ha)+ |
Language | English |
Colors | Sky blue |
Mascot | Lion & elephant |
Website | www |
Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi, Kenya. [7] It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014, it was one of 23 public universities in the country. [8]
The main campus of Kenyatta University sits on over 1,000 acres (1.6 sq mi), at Kahawa, in the Kasarani Sub-county, north of Nairobi City County, approximately 17.5 kilometres (10.9 mi), by road, northeast of the central business district of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, off of the Nairobi-Thika Road. [9] [10]
The list of KU campuses includes the following locations: [11]
Ruiru Campus was renamed as Kenyatta Model School for play groups, pre-primary and primary learners in 2024. The Arusha and Kigali campuses in Tanzania and Rwanda respectively were closed in 2018. [12]
In 1965, the British government handed over the Templar Barracks in Kahawa, to the newly formed government of Kenya. The southern part of the facility remains in military use, as the Kahawa Barracks. The other part of the barracks were converted into a college called Kenyatta College, which offered Advanced Level (A-Level) secondary education at Form 5 and 6 level, as well as some undergraduate diploma courses. In 1978 the entire Faculty of Education of the University of Nairobi was transferred to Kenyatta College, and its name was changed to Kenyatta University College, following an Act of Parliament. The school became the only institution in Kenya training teachers at the degree level, and discontinued all other courses. Degrees offered at Kenyatta were in the name of the University of Nairobi.
In 1985, it was granted full university status and was renamed Kenyatta University. [13] [14]
U.S. President Barack Obama, whose late father, Barack Obama, Sr. (an economist) and paternal relatives are from Kenya, visited Kenya in 2015. While there, he visited the university's main campus. [15]
As of March 2016, the university had 12 campuses offering bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees. The degrees awarded include those in medicine and law. The university has open-learning, e-learning which is known as the digital school, [16] school-based, part-time and full-time teaching. Kenyatta University is accredited by the Kenya Commission of University Education, the Inter-University Council for East Africa, the Africa Association of Universities, the International Association of Universities and the Commonwealth Universities. [17]
Kenyatta University's library is one of the largest in Africa and offers scholarly information resources and services to its students and researchers. [18] In addition to lending services, the library offers E-services and has branches in the respective satellite campuses. [19]
As of April 2024 [update] , the university maintains the following schools:
School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences |
School of Business, Economics and Tourism |
School of Education |
School of Pure And Applied Sciences |
School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences |
School of Health Sciences |
Digital School of Virtual & Open Learning |
School of Engineering and Architecture |
Graduate School |
The university hosts institutes and centers including:
The university offers 14 doctorate and PhD courses, 94 master's degree courses, 117 bachelor's degree courses and 12 postgraduate diploma courses as accredited by the Commission for University Education in Kenya (CUE). [20]
The Centre for International Programmes and Collaboration is a unit under the office of the vice chancellor, responsible for coordinating international activities, collaborations and linkages.
Kenyatta University partnered with IAAF as an athletics-village in the 2017 world under 18 championship Nairobi. [21] The athletes were hosted in the Nyayo hostels and used the campus facilities for training.
Men's sports include football, rugby, hockey, volleyball, netball, handball, basketball, tennis, table tennis, squash, badminton, chess, scrabble, darts, boxing, bodybuilding, taekwondo, swimming, athletics (track and field), scrabble, karate, roll ball, woodball, judo, wrestling, goalball, baseball, and softball.
fWomen's sports include football, rugby, hockey, volleyball, netball, handball, basketball, tennis, table tennis, squash, badminton, chess, scrabble, darts, boxing, fitness modelling, Taekwondo, swimming, athletics (track and field), Karate, roll ball, woodball, Judo, goalball, baseball, and softball.
Seminars and courses in coaching, sports management, training and sports leadership are offered.
The chancellor is Benson Wairegi. The vice chancellor is Professor Paul Wainaina, who was reinstated on November 3, 2022, after being suspended on July 12, 2022, due to a dispute with the government over the university's land. [22] During his suspension, Professor Waceke Wanjohi was appointed to act as the vice chancellor. [23] Wainaina had succeeded Professor Olive Mugenda, the first female vice chancellor of a public university in Kenya, who retired after the end of her tenure in January 2016. [4] [24] There are four deputy vice chancellors and four registrars, to assist the vice chancellor in carrying out his mandate.
The deputy vice chancellors are:
The university owns and operates the following income-generating businesses and investments: [25]
The following individuals are some of the prominent alumni of the Kenyatta University website: [27]
Maseno University is a public university based in the Maseno district of the Kisumu County, Kenya, along the Equator. It was fully fledged as a university in 2001, after being a constituent college of Moi University for a decade. It has over 10,000 students pursuing programmes offered in the university campuses and it is currently ranked among the best universities in Kenya.
Geoffrey William Griffin OBE was the founding director of Starehe Boys' Centre and School in Kenya. He founded the centre in November, 1959 with the help of Geoffrey Gatama Geturo and Joseph Kamiru Gikubu. He was director of the centre from its founding to his death in 2005. He was also the founding director of the National Youth Service between 1964 and 1988.
Ruiru is a municipality and sub-county in Kiambu County, Kenya. It sits within the greater Nairobi Metropolitan region. According to the 2019 national population census, Ruiru was the 4th largest urban centre in Kenya by population. The name Ruiru is of the Kikuyu origin and possibly relates to the black cotton soil that is found in most parts of Ruiru.
Egerton University is a public university in Kenya. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Kenya.
Africa Nazarene University is a private Christian-founded university in, Kenya, and an affiliate of The Church of the Nazarene Colleges and Universities around the world. Africa Nazarene University is fully accredited by the Commission for University Education and the International Board of Education.
Ratemo Michieka is currently the Chancellor of Tharaka University and former director-general of the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) in Kenya; he is also the founding Vice-Chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Professor Leah Marangu is a Kenyan academic. She was born in South Imenti, Meru County, Kenya. She is considered to be one of Kenya's most distinguished and decorated scholars.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) is a public university that is situated in Juja, 36 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, along the Nairobi-Thika SuperHighway, off Exit 15. It offers courses in Technology, Engineering, Science, Commerce, Management and Building sciences and holds a strong research interest in the areas of biotechnology and engineering. Notable alumni include Dr. Paul Chepkwony, the first governor of Kericho County in Kenya and a former lecturer, Emma Miloyo, a prominent Kenyan architect and the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya, as well as Aden Duale, the former Leader of Majority in the 11th Kenyan Parliament among others. As at 2023, the Vice Chancellor of the University was Prof. Victoria Ngumi.
Kahawa is a mixed-use settlement spanning the Kiambu and Nairobi county borders along Thika Road. It is electorally divided into four wards across the two counties: Kahawa and Kahawa West wards in Nairobi county and Kahawa Wendani and Kahawa Sukari wards in Kiambu county. Despite its proximity to the city, half of it is administratively in Ruiru, while some parts, such as Kenyatta University, Kahawa Barracks, Kiwanja and Githurai 44, are administratively in Kasarani.
Githurai is a composition of densely populated, urban, mixed-use settlements located at the border of Nairobi County and Kiambu County along the Thika Road. Githurai is divided into two; Githurai 45 and Githurai 44. Githurai 45 falls under Ruiru Municipality in the Githurai Sub-county of Kiambu County with the boundary being the Thika Road reserve and River Kasarani downstream. Githurai 44 is domiciled in the Kasarani Sub-county of Nairobi County. Githurai 44 neighbours Kahawa West, Zimmerman and Njatha-ini Village.
Sidian Bank, formerly known as K-Rep Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator.
Tuskys, was a Kenyan supermarket chain. It was one of the large supermarket chains in the Great Lakes Area. It employed nearly 6,150 people, 6,000+ in Kenya, and 150 in Uganda.
Olive Mwihaki Mugenda is a Kenyan academic, researcher and academic administrator. She is the Former chairperson board of directors at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital, a leading national referral hospital. She was appointed vice chancellor of Kenyatta University one of the 31 public universities in Kenya, in 2006, the first woman to lead a public university in the African Great Lakes area, and served in that position until 20 March 2016.
Jane Njoki Mugambi was born 23 December 1967 in Gituamba Village, Central Province, Kenya. She was the principal advisor to the president of Kenya, sector cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and boards and chief executive officers of state-owned entities on matters relating to the governance and management matters of state corporations.
Brookside Dairy Limited, often referred to as Brookside Dairies, is a dairy processing company in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. The company offers fresh pasteurized milk, cream, butter, yogurt, ghee, and long life milk products in Indian Ocean Islands, East Africa, Rwanda and Burundi. It provides products through distribution depots, agents, and sub agents to outlets in East Africa.
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