The University of Nairobi Alumni Association held celebrations
to mark the 10th anniversary since its inception.
The colourful ceremony, complete with a gala dinner for its members, was held at the Great
Court, Main Campus.
Addressing the members during dinner, the Association’s Chairperson, Dr. Betty Gikonyo said
that the Association has had a positive co-existence with the University of Nairobi and
contributed to the advancement of higher education within the University and the community at
large.
Dr. Gikonyo mentioned the land mark achievements by the Association during its 10 year
existence including the launch of 12 chapters among them, the MBA, Medicine, Veterinary
Medicine, Range Management, Journalism, Agriculture, IDIS, ADD/ Engineering, Computing,
Pharmacy and Chiromo chapters. The School of Law and College of Education and External
Studies, will soon launch their chapters. The chairperson challenged other disciplines to roll out
their chapters in the future.
Also implemented by the Association include: networking forums, students’ prizes, corporate
social responsibility activities, students’ concrete benches and the renovation of the Kenya
Science Campus offices. It has also invested over Sh50 million towards the construction of the
Alumni Centre Project. The Alumni Centre will act as a focal point for interaction. It will also host
public lectures and distinguished scholars speakers forum, distinguished service awards and
other student awards for excellence. The association also plans to establish an endowment fund
for students’ bursaries, scholarships and research grants and to develop assets such as hostels
for students, a talents academy and a research and innovation centre.
Officiating at the dinner, the CEO of Equity Bank Dr. James Mwangi challenged the Association
and the University to partner with the private sector to realize faster development. Dr. Mwangi
graduated from the Faculty of Commerce in 1984.
During the dinner, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Peter M. F. Mbithi revealed that the University has
created a Directorate of Advancement and Institutional Development whose mandate is to
leverage internal and external relationships to maximize external support, create a process to
deliver the vision and strategic institutional goals and opportunities to diversify income and
produce better outcomes for students and researchers. The University of Nairobi has graduated
more than 173,000 alumni, since it attained full fledged university status in 1970.
The University of Nairobi Alumni Association was launched in February 2005 by the then Minister
for Education Science and Technology, the late Prof. George Saitoti.