Former President Mwai Kibaki at the University of Nairobi on December 2,
2013. Kibaki was asked on July 25, 2014 to offer guidance to the
Jubilee leadership to reconcile the country and tackle insecurity. PHOTO
| EVANS HABIL | FILE
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Former President Mwai Kibaki was asked
on Friday to offer guidance to the Jubilee leadership to reconcile the
country and tackle insecurity.
Senators Moses
Wetang’ula (Bungoma) and Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) said the country was
headed in the wrong direction due to poor leadership.
Speaking
during the eighth graduation ceremony at the Masinde Muliro University,
Mr Wetang’ula and his Kakamega counterpart Khalwale said insecurity,
corruption and tribalism had reached alarming levels and needed to be
addressed urgently.
Kakamega deputy governor Philip
Kutima and MPs Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i), Paul Otuoma (Funyula), David
Eseli (Tongaren) and Joseph Lokuton (Laisamis), among others, attended.
Some 1,704 students were conferred with degrees and diplomas.
The
leaders said the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy was pushing for a
referendum to give Kenyans a chance to determine how the country should
be governed.
“The referendum is not about the tyranny
of numbers in the National Assembly. It is about the people of Kenya,”
said Mr Wetang’ula.
But Mr Kibaki, who is the
Chancellor of Masinde Muliro University, did not respond to the calls.
Instead, the former President commended the management of the
institution for tremendous growth and expansion of teaching and research
facilities.
Mr Kibaki said the university had the
potential of driving the country’s dream of industrialisation based on
the institution’s tradition in technological research.
“Research
activities at Masinde Muliro University are being translated into
practice, and the results include stingless bees and medicinal
mushrooms,” said Mr Kibaki.
He said public universities
should strike a balance between expansion of infrastructure and
upscaling human capital at the institutions to ensure they produce
graduates who have attained relevant skills for the competitive job
market.
Mr Wetang’ula said it was wrong to continue
converting middle level colleges into universities since the trend was
killing the training of graduates with technical skills in the country.
Education
Cabinet Secretary Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, in a speech read on his behalf,
said the university will receive equipment for applied science,
engineering and technology. “We have set aside Sh384 million to
facilitate the improvement,” he said
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