I would like to start by thanking HE the President, Mwai Kibaki, for
honouring me with the appointment as Chancellor of this distinguished
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
I would also wish to acknowledge the contribution by my predecessor,
Prof. Ali Mazrui, during his six year tenure as Chancellor of this
University.
I now wish to express my indebtedness for the honour you have bestowed
on me to-day, with the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.
I am proud to be a graduate of this prestigious University which bears
the name of the founding father of the nation of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.
I came to hear of his name for the first time in 1952, when I was in
standard four at our rural primary school. At the time, boys of my age
group were trained to be good herdsboys looking after cattle, sheep
and goats in our neighbourhood. We admired those with large herds of
those animals and this was engraved in our values at an early age. As
young herdsboys we were not in a position to appreciate or comprehend
national issues of the time. So it was a surprise to us when those
older than us explained that there was a man known as Jomo Kenyatta,
and that together with his comrades, he had been arrested and locked
up for agitating for independence. This referred to the infamous
“operation Jock Scott” of 20th October, 1952 when the State of
Emergency was declared in Kenya. The community in the neighbourhood
was gripped with fear and we started witnessing gun battles between
the soldiers of the Kings African Rifles and the Mau Mau freedom
fighters. The suffering we went through when we were forced to go to
concentration camps and villages was unforgettable, but that is now
history.
In 1960 the state of Emergency was lifted and Jomo Kenyatta was
released in August the following year. 1963 saw us enjoy the first
Madaraka day on 1st June and Uhuru day on 12th December. In 1968
President Jomo Kenyatta presided over my graduation ceremony at the
Great Court of the then University College Nairobi and in 1971 he
awarded me a Masters degree. This is the man who, in his magnanimity,
gave the land upon which JKUAT is built and accordingly bears his
name.
You can now appreciate why I had to take you through that brief
history which has impacted on my life.
As you may probably know, I have had association with JKUAT and even
the defunct JKUCAT. I have had opportunities of coming here at Juja
campus severally to attend to such functions like graduation
ceremonies, conferences, seminars and Joint Admissions Board meetings.
Soon after my appointment as Chancellor, we agreed with the
Vice-Chancellor, Prof Imbuga, that I would tour the various
constituent colleges of JKUAT in order to acquint myself with the
operations of those constituent colleges. Accordingly during the month
of March I visited Mombasa Polytechnic University College as well as
the Mombasa campus of JKUAT and the Taita-Taveta Campus in the Coast
Province. Thereafter I toured Meru University College of Science and
Technology in Easter Province. I then toured the Multi media
University College of Kenya in Nairobi and lastly I toured Kimathi
University College of Technology in Central Province. In addition to
familiarizing myself with the facilities available and being developed
in those constituent colleges, I propagated the message on the need
for good corporate governance in our institutions. I gave examples of
the challenges that I went through in the management and
administration at the University of Nairobi in order to underpin the
need for managers to familiarize themselves with the instruments of
running the university.
And on reflection, my experience as I traversed the terrain of poverty
and suffering during my early life, I get encouragement which I often
like sharing with those who are sometimes tempted to despair, and give
up hope. After surviving that terrain of poverty, I entered the
tunnel leading to the unknown. In my days in high school and indeed in
my years as an undergraduate university student, I depended very much
on my teachers in determining the path towards my career and they were
a source of inspiration for which I am indebted to them. Accordingly
I did my bachelors degree as well as postgraduate degrees at the
University of Nairobi and pursued industrial training as required by
the Engineers Registration Board in order to qualify for registration
as an Engineer. Along the journey I have met with many challenges and
of course opportunities. I have trained many to be engineers and I
get that sense of satisfaction when I see successful projects and
assignments undertaken by those who have passed through my hands. We
need to acknowledge that there are those of our own who are capable of
performing just like those we read about from the first world. But we
must accept that there are also those who let us down for
underperforming. Unfortunately, those who pass judgement about our
products tend to base their assessment on the second category rather
than the earlier one. In this respect, we need to adjust our attitude
towards our own local indeginous scientists, technologists and
engineers so that, as we acknowlege the failures in our endeavours we
need to celebrate successes and further encourage the technological
community to strive to achieve excellence in research and innovations.
As you would expect, having spent a decade at the helm of the
University of Nairobi, I learnt how to steer my canoe through the many
waves of challenges that bombarded a Vice-Chancellor of a public
university at the time. In order to survive, I sought insurance cover
from the provisions contained in the University Act and the Statutes.
In the way of example, on one occasion when I was chairman of the
Department of Civil Engineering, I decided to cancel a meeting called
by two members of teaching staff in the Department. The two had been
recruited to participate in running of a postgraduate diploma
programme which was supported through a Ministry by a development
partner who had seconded the two academic staff. They had arranged to
hold a meeting outside the university to consider end of year
examination results before the same had been approved by Senate. As a
result the Vice-Chacellor was summoned to a meeting by the
stakeholders to explain why the meeting was cancelled.
I accompanied the Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Registrar (Academic
Affairs) to the meeting. I was very relieved when the Vice-Chancellor
explained to the stakeholders that, as a Chairman, I had taken the
correct action regarding the matter. Another interesting experience,
I had in the professional plane, was at a time I was Principal of the
College of Architecture and Engineering. We were tasked to undertake
a consultancy through the Faculty’s Industrial Research and
Consultancy Unit. The consultancy involved carrying out studies of
distress features of the run way and taxiway of an international
airfield in Kenya. In order to win the consultancy we arranged to
quote very low.
After surmounting that hurdle, the exercise required that we undertake
comprehensive field studies and thereafter design remedial measures.
We borrowed the testing equipment from the Materials branch of the
Ministry and used technical staff from the Ministry to complement our
staff in the operations of the equipment. During our presentation of
the research findings, an engineer from the client side went overboard
when evaluating our research findings and recommendations on the
required remedial measures. The discussion developed into a highly
charged dialogue resulting in the engineer leaving the meeting in
protest. The report and the recommendations on remedial measures were
however eventually accepted by the client and thereafter implemented.
To my surprise, four years later, the engineer, who was an expatriate,
wrote to me a letter apologizing for his uncalled for vulgar
commentary, during the meeting when he walked out in protest.
The important observation from the above two experiences is that rules
and procedures have to be followed in order to protect the society
from exploitation by the unscrupulous officers. Secondly, while to
err is human, one needs to acknowledge and accept his fault as
required by the code of ethics.
As a University of international standing seeking for excellence, it
is important for us in JKUAT to acknowledge that, as a country, we are
endowed with people of varying talents and qualities and it is our
duty to go out there and identify them and give them opportunities to
excel.
We know that poor developing third world countries, like ours, are
characterized with low absorption of efficient technology, and that
for a poor country to become a middle income country, like the Asian
Tigers, there is need to aggressively embrace efficient technology.
We also know that the developed countries of the first world continue
to invest heavily in the area of research in technology so that they
can remain competitive in the global market. Consequently it makes
economic sense for us to invest in that technology that will make our
products sellable in the global market. In this respect we should keep
abreast of the latest developments in technology with the aim of
harnessing the same in our endeavor to uplift the standard of living
of our citizens.
I wish to challenge the academics we have here at JKUAT to venture out
there and identify areas where we can sell ourselves as the
technological university of excellence in agriculture and technology.
We additionally must project the image that we are an institution
which can add value to the development of this nation, in keeping with
the vision 2030 and the wider East African Community. While
challenging our academics, I am reminded how a quarter of a century
ago, the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi challenged the
University dons of the time to develop a Kenyan car “however ugly and
however slow”. After burning midnight oil for three years we
developed three vehicles (two saloon cars and a pick-up) which we
presented to the President in February 1990. It is a pity that the
mass production phase of the project met with insurmountable
challenges which led to our missing that technological train towards
the industrialization of Kenya. Hopefully, in time, we shall catch
another train to take us to the desired station.
In the area of agriculture it is important to acknowledge that about
three quarters of Kenyans derive their livelihood from the
agricultural sector which contributes about a quarter of our Gross
Domestic Product.
We must therefore give appropriate priority to this sector in terms of
research, extension and innovations in order to improve on efficiency
in food production, post harvest technology, storage and marketing.
The onus is on us to undertake research in order to establish the
necessary ingredients that will make our country secure in the area of
food production as well as how we can make the agricultural sector
more attractive to the young, energetic and the educated in our
society. If such an endeavor were to succeed, we would witness
increase in employment opportunities for the youth of this country and
that way we would project an image of a university participating in
the search for solutions towards sustainable food security and hence
the achievement of the vision 2030 for our nation.
I am also keen to highlight the need for income generation. Given
that the exchequer has limited capacity in terms of giving JKUAT
financial support, it is important for us to evaluate our capacity and
establish areas where we can generate income without compromising on
our mission and vision. You can for example collaborate with private
sector outfits and organizations which share similar objectives. We
must however be able to go out there and develop sellable proposals to
the many stakeholders. We should additionally seek to establish
partnerships nationally and internationally so as to be able to add
value to our capacity to carry out research and in innovations.
To conclude, ladies and gentlemen, I must congratulate those
graduating today. My message to the graduands is that they should
approach the challenges ahead with confidence and commitment in the
knowledge that, if one has not met the problems at hand in the past,
there are those who will have addressed similar problems and can be
available for consultation either in person or through their
publications.
And finally let me once again thank Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology for bestowing on me the degree of Doctor of
Science, Honoris causa.
honouring me with the appointment as Chancellor of this distinguished
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
I would also wish to acknowledge the contribution by my predecessor,
Prof. Ali Mazrui, during his six year tenure as Chancellor of this
University.
I now wish to express my indebtedness for the honour you have bestowed
on me to-day, with the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.
I am proud to be a graduate of this prestigious University which bears
the name of the founding father of the nation of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.
I came to hear of his name for the first time in 1952, when I was in
standard four at our rural primary school. At the time, boys of my age
group were trained to be good herdsboys looking after cattle, sheep
and goats in our neighbourhood. We admired those with large herds of
those animals and this was engraved in our values at an early age. As
young herdsboys we were not in a position to appreciate or comprehend
national issues of the time. So it was a surprise to us when those
older than us explained that there was a man known as Jomo Kenyatta,
and that together with his comrades, he had been arrested and locked
up for agitating for independence. This referred to the infamous
“operation Jock Scott” of 20th October, 1952 when the State of
Emergency was declared in Kenya. The community in the neighbourhood
was gripped with fear and we started witnessing gun battles between
the soldiers of the Kings African Rifles and the Mau Mau freedom
fighters. The suffering we went through when we were forced to go to
concentration camps and villages was unforgettable, but that is now
history.
In 1960 the state of Emergency was lifted and Jomo Kenyatta was
released in August the following year. 1963 saw us enjoy the first
Madaraka day on 1st June and Uhuru day on 12th December. In 1968
President Jomo Kenyatta presided over my graduation ceremony at the
Great Court of the then University College Nairobi and in 1971 he
awarded me a Masters degree. This is the man who, in his magnanimity,
gave the land upon which JKUAT is built and accordingly bears his
name.
You can now appreciate why I had to take you through that brief
history which has impacted on my life.
As you may probably know, I have had association with JKUAT and even
the defunct JKUCAT. I have had opportunities of coming here at Juja
campus severally to attend to such functions like graduation
ceremonies, conferences, seminars and Joint Admissions Board meetings.
Soon after my appointment as Chancellor, we agreed with the
Vice-Chancellor, Prof Imbuga, that I would tour the various
constituent colleges of JKUAT in order to acquint myself with the
operations of those constituent colleges. Accordingly during the month
of March I visited Mombasa Polytechnic University College as well as
the Mombasa campus of JKUAT and the Taita-Taveta Campus in the Coast
Province. Thereafter I toured Meru University College of Science and
Technology in Easter Province. I then toured the Multi media
University College of Kenya in Nairobi and lastly I toured Kimathi
University College of Technology in Central Province. In addition to
familiarizing myself with the facilities available and being developed
in those constituent colleges, I propagated the message on the need
for good corporate governance in our institutions. I gave examples of
the challenges that I went through in the management and
administration at the University of Nairobi in order to underpin the
need for managers to familiarize themselves with the instruments of
running the university.
And on reflection, my experience as I traversed the terrain of poverty
and suffering during my early life, I get encouragement which I often
like sharing with those who are sometimes tempted to despair, and give
up hope. After surviving that terrain of poverty, I entered the
tunnel leading to the unknown. In my days in high school and indeed in
my years as an undergraduate university student, I depended very much
on my teachers in determining the path towards my career and they were
a source of inspiration for which I am indebted to them. Accordingly
I did my bachelors degree as well as postgraduate degrees at the
University of Nairobi and pursued industrial training as required by
the Engineers Registration Board in order to qualify for registration
as an Engineer. Along the journey I have met with many challenges and
of course opportunities. I have trained many to be engineers and I
get that sense of satisfaction when I see successful projects and
assignments undertaken by those who have passed through my hands. We
need to acknowledge that there are those of our own who are capable of
performing just like those we read about from the first world. But we
must accept that there are also those who let us down for
underperforming. Unfortunately, those who pass judgement about our
products tend to base their assessment on the second category rather
than the earlier one. In this respect, we need to adjust our attitude
towards our own local indeginous scientists, technologists and
engineers so that, as we acknowlege the failures in our endeavours we
need to celebrate successes and further encourage the technological
community to strive to achieve excellence in research and innovations.
As you would expect, having spent a decade at the helm of the
University of Nairobi, I learnt how to steer my canoe through the many
waves of challenges that bombarded a Vice-Chancellor of a public
university at the time. In order to survive, I sought insurance cover
from the provisions contained in the University Act and the Statutes.
In the way of example, on one occasion when I was chairman of the
Department of Civil Engineering, I decided to cancel a meeting called
by two members of teaching staff in the Department. The two had been
recruited to participate in running of a postgraduate diploma
programme which was supported through a Ministry by a development
partner who had seconded the two academic staff. They had arranged to
hold a meeting outside the university to consider end of year
examination results before the same had been approved by Senate. As a
result the Vice-Chacellor was summoned to a meeting by the
stakeholders to explain why the meeting was cancelled.
I accompanied the Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Registrar (Academic
Affairs) to the meeting. I was very relieved when the Vice-Chancellor
explained to the stakeholders that, as a Chairman, I had taken the
correct action regarding the matter. Another interesting experience,
I had in the professional plane, was at a time I was Principal of the
College of Architecture and Engineering. We were tasked to undertake
a consultancy through the Faculty’s Industrial Research and
Consultancy Unit. The consultancy involved carrying out studies of
distress features of the run way and taxiway of an international
airfield in Kenya. In order to win the consultancy we arranged to
quote very low.
After surmounting that hurdle, the exercise required that we undertake
comprehensive field studies and thereafter design remedial measures.
We borrowed the testing equipment from the Materials branch of the
Ministry and used technical staff from the Ministry to complement our
staff in the operations of the equipment. During our presentation of
the research findings, an engineer from the client side went overboard
when evaluating our research findings and recommendations on the
required remedial measures. The discussion developed into a highly
charged dialogue resulting in the engineer leaving the meeting in
protest. The report and the recommendations on remedial measures were
however eventually accepted by the client and thereafter implemented.
To my surprise, four years later, the engineer, who was an expatriate,
wrote to me a letter apologizing for his uncalled for vulgar
commentary, during the meeting when he walked out in protest.
The important observation from the above two experiences is that rules
and procedures have to be followed in order to protect the society
from exploitation by the unscrupulous officers. Secondly, while to
err is human, one needs to acknowledge and accept his fault as
required by the code of ethics.
As a University of international standing seeking for excellence, it
is important for us in JKUAT to acknowledge that, as a country, we are
endowed with people of varying talents and qualities and it is our
duty to go out there and identify them and give them opportunities to
excel.
We know that poor developing third world countries, like ours, are
characterized with low absorption of efficient technology, and that
for a poor country to become a middle income country, like the Asian
Tigers, there is need to aggressively embrace efficient technology.
We also know that the developed countries of the first world continue
to invest heavily in the area of research in technology so that they
can remain competitive in the global market. Consequently it makes
economic sense for us to invest in that technology that will make our
products sellable in the global market. In this respect we should keep
abreast of the latest developments in technology with the aim of
harnessing the same in our endeavor to uplift the standard of living
of our citizens.
I wish to challenge the academics we have here at JKUAT to venture out
there and identify areas where we can sell ourselves as the
technological university of excellence in agriculture and technology.
We additionally must project the image that we are an institution
which can add value to the development of this nation, in keeping with
the vision 2030 and the wider East African Community. While
challenging our academics, I am reminded how a quarter of a century
ago, the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi challenged the
University dons of the time to develop a Kenyan car “however ugly and
however slow”. After burning midnight oil for three years we
developed three vehicles (two saloon cars and a pick-up) which we
presented to the President in February 1990. It is a pity that the
mass production phase of the project met with insurmountable
challenges which led to our missing that technological train towards
the industrialization of Kenya. Hopefully, in time, we shall catch
another train to take us to the desired station.
In the area of agriculture it is important to acknowledge that about
three quarters of Kenyans derive their livelihood from the
agricultural sector which contributes about a quarter of our Gross
Domestic Product.
We must therefore give appropriate priority to this sector in terms of
research, extension and innovations in order to improve on efficiency
in food production, post harvest technology, storage and marketing.
The onus is on us to undertake research in order to establish the
necessary ingredients that will make our country secure in the area of
food production as well as how we can make the agricultural sector
more attractive to the young, energetic and the educated in our
society. If such an endeavor were to succeed, we would witness
increase in employment opportunities for the youth of this country and
that way we would project an image of a university participating in
the search for solutions towards sustainable food security and hence
the achievement of the vision 2030 for our nation.
I am also keen to highlight the need for income generation. Given
that the exchequer has limited capacity in terms of giving JKUAT
financial support, it is important for us to evaluate our capacity and
establish areas where we can generate income without compromising on
our mission and vision. You can for example collaborate with private
sector outfits and organizations which share similar objectives. We
must however be able to go out there and develop sellable proposals to
the many stakeholders. We should additionally seek to establish
partnerships nationally and internationally so as to be able to add
value to our capacity to carry out research and in innovations.
To conclude, ladies and gentlemen, I must congratulate those
graduating today. My message to the graduands is that they should
approach the challenges ahead with confidence and commitment in the
knowledge that, if one has not met the problems at hand in the past,
there are those who will have addressed similar problems and can be
available for consultation either in person or through their
publications.
And finally let me once again thank Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology for bestowing on me the degree of Doctor of
Science, Honoris causa.
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