Mount Kenya
University
Kigali Campus celebrates five
years of success in Rwanda
Event comes as university climbs even higher
in global rankings by Webometrics (www.
webometrics.com), and wins top prize for
excellence in use of ICT
M
ount Kenya University Kigali Campus celebrated five
years of providing quality
higher education last week.
The celebration was through
a post-graduation luncheon
for students who graduated
in 2014, and Mr and Miss
MKU 2015/6 contest. Both
events were held at Gikondo
Expo Grounds.
Students, staff members,
parents and guardians
interacted freely during the
celebrations, which came
at time when the university
improved its position in
the latest global university
rankings by Webometrics.
The university was ranked
among the top 10 best
universities in Kenya, and
number three among private
universities.
“Our continous efforts of
improving access to e-learning and sharing information
through electronic formats
are bearing fruit,” said Dr.
Mercyline Kamande, the
Principal. The university
scored strong points in the
criteria used in the survey,
namely institutional presence, impact, openness and
2015 POST-GRADUATION LUNCHEON AT GIKONDO
EXPO GROUNDS
excellence. The survey is
conducted twice annually.
Last year, Mount Kenya
University won the overall
ICT Value Award in the
Information and Communications Technology Association of Kenya (ICTAK)
Awards for the second year
in a row. The university
also retained the Best Use
of ICT in Education Award
and ICT Manager of the
Year Award. The recently
rebranded MKU Virtual
Varsity won the Digital and
Virtual Learning Excellence
Award.
Two alumni of Mount Kenya University join the university’s founder Dr
Simon Gicharu and His Excellency John Mwangeni, Kenyan High Commissioner to Rwanda to cut a cake to celebrate five years of continous
service in higher education provision in Rwanda. About 1,000 Rwandese
students have graduated with various Masters and undergraduate certificates in the last five years.
MR AND MISS MKU TO SPEARHEAD COMMUNITY
OUTREACH PROJECTS
CONSTRUCTION OF CAMPUS AT KAGARAMA,
KICUKIRO DISTRICT, RWANDA IN HIGH GEAR
Dream of
permanent
home now a
reality
The ongoing construction of Mount Kenya University campus in Kagarama in Kicukiro District. The project will be complete by February,
2016.
THIKA MAIN CAMPUS
P.O. Box 342-01000 THIKA,
Tel: +254202088310
Cell:+254720790796
Email: info@mku.ac.ke
Mount Kenya University is constructing an ultra-modern
building in Kicukiro
at a cost of RWF5
billion. It will be a
centre of excellence
in science training,
research and ICT. This
will bring a sense of
pride and ownership
in the Rwandan community.
Miss MKU Rwanda 2015/16 Agasaro Nadia (seated) accompanied by
fellow students and contestants. Nsenginyumva Ismail won the Mr
MKU Rwanda crown. The two will drive the university’s community
outreach agenda in Rwanda.
www.mku.ac.ke
Scaling the heights of Education
Mount Kenya University
@Mountkenyauni
KIGALI CAMPUS
P.O. Box 5826 Kigali, Avenue-De-lapaix
Tel: +250 785709824 / 0728551199
Email: info@mku.ac.ke
Mount Kenya
University
Public-Private Partnership projects
showcase impact of the university on
community
Lodwar Campus, Kenya
Partnership with Aegis Trust to prevent crimes against
humanity
Mount Kenya University has an ongoing
partnership with Aegis Trust. Aegis Trust
runs the Kigali Genocide Memorial. It
was established by Aegis in 2004 at the
request of the Rwandan Government
and Kigali City Council. The Genocide
Memorial is run by Aegis on behalf of
CNLG (Rwanda’s National Commission
for the Fight against Genocide), as a
place both of remembrance and learning for a new generation.
Turkana County government donated 100 acres of land
Lodwar in Turkana County, is a remote area that experiences severe drought
and dryness. Every year,
human lives and livestock
are lost because of lack of
adequate food and water. A few years ago, the
Turkana County government identified Mount
Kenya University as the
institution it would like
to partner with to bring
about social and eco-
nomic change. It donated
100 acres of prime land
to the university, where
it would build a campus
to provide much-needed
education. The university spent Ksh200 million
(RWF1.6 billion) and put
up a modern Campus.
The Campus has the following features:
(i) Model farm for demonstrating modern farming methods. This has
boosted food security.
(ii) Well-stocked library.
(iii) Institute of Petroleum
Studies and Renewable
Energy, which is equipping the local people with
skills that will enable
them benefit from the
newly-discovered oil in
the County.
(iv) Community water
project.
(v) Spacious lecture rooms
and science laboratories.
General Kago Road Funeral
Home, Kenya
!
Part 1Consensus
– Purpose Youth Forum
Post 2015
The purpose of the Forum is for young people and students to learn about the P
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to at the UN a
institution of higher learning that is
present their views on the development
Part 2 –Youth
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hosting the Post 2015 Consensus
priorities
the worldOptions
to decision
the Forum, young
people
complete
comparable to that
Forum in Rwanda. This isDuring
in collaboramakers
atare
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and
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negotiations.
There
are
a
variety
of
materials
available
for
and
tion with the Copenhagen Consensus
Governments through social, digitalinformation
and
Centre in Denmark which gives an
traditional media. The Forum will give
• A 3-minute introductory video about the Post-2015 Consensus project: h
opportunity to the youth to• be
part
of
an opportunity
to selected
in Lomborg: http
A 2-minute greeting
video to the Youth
Forum youths
from Bjorn
the UN resolutions for the •next
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Topic articles published in print media on each of the goal areas, coverin
years. The purpose of the Forum
is will
for be published
to present
theJanuary,
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Youth Forum’s
topics
by end
papers for each topic on the CCC website, whic
young people and students• toThere
learnare additional
priorities.
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consensus/research.
• Rating sheets: for completion by each participant. It is important is that pa
photographs being used, and if they are happy for the media to contact the
RWF 5BILLION CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECTS
The facilitator can decide how to use the materials provided to stimulate learnin
forum, or there could be several over a number of weeks. The exact format of the
• Students reading all the materials before the forum, and arriving prepared
• All students reading the articles at the forum, and then discussing the targe
• Individual students read, prepare and present a single topic to a wider grou
small groups. All the topics and targets could be covered in this way.
• Any other format that would work for you and the participants, to ensure a
Note that all the targets must be rated on the sheet provided by each student indi
Part 3 – Presentation of Priorities
Kiambu County Government donated land to build a modern funeral home
Until the year 2013, the
people of Thika town,
Kenya, were using a small
funeral home constructed
by the colonial government a long time ago
in 1948. Mount Kenya
University, in partnership
with the Kiambu County
Government constructed
an ultra-modern Funeral
Home that is now the
pride of the community.
The new funeral home
was built at a cost of
Ksh300 million (RWF 2.4
billion). It now provides
the following services:
(i) Mortuary services for
the community.
(ii) Practical training for
students from the Mount
Kenya University School
of Medicine. The School is
accredited by the Kenya
Medical Practitioners
and Dentists Board. The
university is currently
making arrangements for
students from Kigali Campus to undertake Bachelor
of Medicine and Bachelor
of Surgery Programme
at Thika Main Campus
without any adjustment of
tuition fees.
At the end of the exercise, ask the students to think of ONE target they fee
priority, and ONE target they think is not important. Students will then presen
and these will then be publicized in the media, and shown to their national gover
• Video message: students should state their name, their country, their
addressing Ban Ki-moon, the Foreign Minister, the UN Ambassador or o
seconds per presentation (it needs to be short and sharp!).
• Photo message: students should write on a piece of paper their name, co
used in a Twitter campaign.
• The videos and photos can be done on smartphones, and can be done simu
All the rating sheets should be collected, also all the videos and photographs, by
Part 4 – After the Event
Mount Kenya UniversityThe
Chancellor
VictoriaforWulsin
andallstudents
facilitator Prof.
is responsible
returning
the ratingfrom
sheets, the videos and
Kigali Campus donate sanitary
towels
to
Fawe
Secondary
School
in Kigali. The
should be sent by e-mail to forum@copenhagenconsensus.com.
university commits up to RWF5 billion every year on various Corporate Social
Responsibility activities.This last step is crucial to ensure the ultimate success of the Forum – this is how
world!
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/post-2015-consens
Mount Kenya
University
School of Business and Economics gets global
AACSB membership towards accreditation
M
ount Kenya University’s
School of Business and
Economics has officially
gained the membership of the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB) based
in Tampa, Florida in United States of
America.
The School of Business and Economics is now a member of a growing global network of more than
1,300 educational institutions, businesses and organizations, dedicated to advancing management education worldwide.
AACSB members represent over
40,000 faculty and 1,000,000 students majoring in business and accounting at universities around the
world.
Becoming a member of the prestigious AACSB is the first step towards
gaining international accreditation
from the organization. Member-
ship approval was gained on the
strength that MKU’s School of Business and Economics has demonstrated a commitment to and alignment with a series of core values
required for accreditation.
In addition, the School of Business
and Economics is required to maintain a collegiate environment in
which students, faculty and administrators interact and collaborate
in support of learning, scholarship
and community engagement. The
School has also demonstrated to
the AACSB’s Initial Accreditation
Committee that it is committed to
address, engage and respond to
current and emerging corporate responsibility issues. such as Sustainable Development, Entrepreneurship, Diversity and Globalization.
The School of Business and Economics has also partnered with Xavier University in the USA.
Dean, School of Business Prof. Edwin Odhuno (left) presents the AACSB membership certificate to Mount Kenya University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stanley Waudo.
AACSB represents 40,000 faculty and 1,000,000 students.
Enhancing use of ICT in learning
CISCO Networking Academy to
be launched at Kigali and Kenya
Campuses
Mount Kenya University Cisco Networking
Academy will start
offering Full time and
Part-time courses in IT
Essentials, CCNA 1-4
and CCNA Security.
The Cisco Networking Academy is geared
toward delivering a
comprehensive 21st
century learning experience to help students
develop the foundational ICT skills needed
to design, build, and
MKU Union Towers along Moi Avenue, Nairobi is home to Virtual Var- manage networks, along
sity, which provides online learning to with career skills such
as problem solving, colstudents from around the world.
THIKA MAIN CAMPUS
P.O. Box 342-01000 THIKA,
Tel: +254202088310
Cell:+254720790796
Email: info@mku.ac.ke
laboration, and critical
thinking. Student’s complete hands-on learning
activities and network
simulations to develop
practical skills that will
help them fill a growing need for networking
professionals around
the world. Networking Academy courses
are offered in multiple
languages through a
blended e-learning
model that combines
classroom instruction
with online curricula,
interactive tools and
hands-on activities.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stanley Waudo and Dr. Ponani Gopalakrishnan, Vice President, Corporate Technology, IBM East Africa
University signs partnership with
International Business Machines (IBM)
Mount Kenya University’s School
of Pure and Applied Sciences will
starting offering IBM East Africa’s
MEA University Programme. This
follows the signing of an MoU
between the two institutions earlier
www.mku.ac.ke
Scaling the heights of Education
Mount Kenya University
@Mountkenyauni
this week. IBM is an American
multinational technology and
consulting corporation. The MEA
Programme is a new academic certification programme in the areas
of emerging technologies.
KIGALI CAMPUS
P.O. Box 5826 Kigali, Avenue-Dela-paix
Tel: +250 785 709 824 / 0728 551
199 Email: info@mku.ac.ke
Mount Kenya
University
GRADUATE ENTERPRISE ACADEMY
Here is your
chance to become
a movie star
The university has partnered with XL Digital Squad,
a US film company to produce a movie called The Last
Result, which will boost the university’s Institute of
Film Studies
T
he university recognises that most
young
people
love acting and watching films. Inorder to
help talented young actors exploit their talent
and gain exposure, the
university has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with US-based
film company XL Digital
to produce a film called
The Last Result. The film
will involve students
from Mount Kenya University (including Kigali
Campus), and professional actors from the
East African region. The
actors and actresses of
this movie, which will
be shot in May this year,
will be selected through
a competitive process.
Students from East Africa will be able to choose
their favourite participants of the movie. This
project will lead to the
university offering short
courses in film production and cinematography. It will also boost
the local film production
industries. In near future,
people in East African
region will not be rely-
ing on the West for films.
Mount Kenya University is planning to invest
RWF800 million in the
next five years towards
this venture.
The university has also
established a Directorate
of Creative Arts to help
young people showcase
their talents in different
forms of art. The Directorate will train the youth
and assist them commercialise their artistic creations. These creations
may be in form of music,
paintings, poetry drama
etc.
Serge Shyirambere received six million Rwandan francs from the Mount Kenya
University Enterprise Academy to invest in his business. The Academy provides
capital for Mount Kenya University to invest in businesses of their choice.
Supporting the founder’s doctrine in Rwanda
of making Job Creators not Job Seekers
I
n
2012,
Mount
Kenya
University
launced the Enterprise Academy.
The Academy provides free training on
entrepreneurship, and
capital for starting a
business to alumni of
the university who are
selected through a competitive process.
The aim of the Academy is to assist the
university’s graduates
to become job creators,
not job seekers. It is
a philosophy that the
Mount Kenya University founder Dr. Simon
Gicharu truly believes
in.
He started his business in 1996 with
only
Ksh20,000
(RWF160,000). “We are
determined to train
our young people that
they do not have to rely
only on paid employment once they graduate,” says Dr. Gicharu.
“There are various
forms of entrepreneurship that they can engage themselves in.”
One of these forms of
entrepreneurship
is
subcontracting, a concept that is becoming
very popular especially
among governments in
Africa.
Subcontracting is a system whereby a big and
established business/
government/institution focuses on its core
duties and hires other
small firms to carry out
some of its projects.
The
Mount
Kenya
University Enterprise
Academy is sponsored
by the office of the
Chairman, Board of
Trustees. It has a fund
of RWF320 million.
Those who are admitted to the Academy are
trained on how to become successful entrepreneurs for a period
of three months, at the
university’s Main Campus in Thika.
They also interact with
some of East Africa’s
most prominent business leaders who offer
them practical skills
and mentorship.
FACTS ABOUT THE ENTERPRISE ACADEMY
RWF 6million
March, 20
3 months
40
Amount of money given to the
alumni by the university as seed
capital to start businesses
American film producer Yves Tchouta (left) meets Mount Kenya University
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stanley Waudo at his office in Thika, Kenya. Tchouta is
the managing director of XL Digital Squad based in Altanta, USA.
Duration of residential training on
entrepreneurship
Deadline of submitting your application. For more information, log
onto to www.mku.ac.ke/enterpriseacademy
Number of jobs created by beneficiaries of the Enterprise Academy