From left; Prof. Peter Bukhala, Mr. Caleb Mwendwa, Prof. Stephen Odebero, Prof. Solomon Shibairo and Prof. Charles Mutai.
Notably, Amb. Nabukwesi revealed that UP attracts over one hundred (100) nationalities from across the globe, with active collaborations with hundreds of institutions, something that is desirable for Universities. This means that the University is fully international and that there is so much to learn from it.
“I am happy that MMUST has pioneered the visit to South Africa to look at the details of the collaboration. It is good to associate with advanced institutions, with more experience and ones that are grounded in many areas of interest,” said Amb. Nabukwesi.
According to Amb. Nabukwesi, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Kenyan State Department for University Education and the equivalent in South Africa. In that MOU, all Kenyan Universities are free to partner with Universities in South Africa. Additionally, he said that there are higher expectations for MMUST to succeed and perform better. “In future, when MMUST seeks assistance in its activities with UP, we hope that the Embassy will do it with a lot of enthusiasm,” said Amb. Nabukwesi.
Ms. Beatrice Kiragu said that South African Universities can be viable partners to MMUST, mainly because they engage in a great deal of research especially in the area of health. For example, in the entire world, they were the first to detect the Omicron variant. Apart from this, they have made some other life-changing discoveries in relation to health.
“When his excellency, president Uhuru Kenyatta, travelled to South Africa in November, 2021, one of the MOUs that were signed was in the area of health and in there, the two (2) states agreed to collaborate even at the University level, including research and exchange programmes,” said Ms. Kiragu.
At the meeting, MMUST’s Chair of Council, Dr. Musangi Jane Mutua, thanked the Embassy for creating time to meet the Kenyan delegation. “As a University, we must join the conversation on research and internationalization of our institutions early enough. We are taking it very seriously and we are asking you to join and help us where you can as an Embassy, specifically in our activities with the University of Pretoria,” stated Dr. Musangi.
As stated by MMUST’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Shibairo, who was also present at the event, many Universities in Africa are unable to attract funding and rank very low in webometrics due to lack of globalization. “South African Universities have been ranked among the top 1% in the world. We came to capture how Universities here are structured as well as how they do things so that we can apply them in our institutions,” said Prof. Shibairo. Further, Prof. Shibairo indicated that MMUST will collaborate with UP and other Institutions of Higher Learning in order to increase the chances of winning bigger grants.
The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP, Prof. Tawana Kupe, said that the benchmarking exercise is a learning opportunity, and that should not be a one-off activity. He cited the possibility of a delegation from UP visiting MMUST as well. “UP is a South African University and therefore part of the African continent. Knowledge knows no borders; every University makes a contribution in one way or another. We are part of the global community of African Universities, globally connected, engaged and interactive,” said Prof.Kupe.
Regarding linkages, Prof. Kupe said that UP is building up its partnerships on the continent as well as across the globe. He expressed his optimism towards collaborations with MMUST in the future.
Other members of the MMUST delegation to South Africa present are; Representative of the PS, State Department for University Education and Research to MMUST Council, Ms. Lucy Mugwe, MMUST Council member, Ms. Connie Okwisa Mogaka, DVC (Planning, Research and Innovation), Prof. Charles Mutai, DVC (Administration and Finance), Prof. John Kuria Thuo, Director Research and Postgraduate Support, Prof. Peter Bukhala, Director Postgraduate Studies, Prof. Stephen Odebero, MMUST’s Finance Officer, CPA Jared Rading’ and MMUST’s researcher, Mr. Caleb Mwendwa.
