By James Wakahiu
editor@themountainjournal.co.ke
Mount Kenya University (MKU) has been graded among the Top Three
institutions in the Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa
University Ranking as it sets to celebrate the 26th graduation ceremony
on Friday next week.
More than 7,000 graduands are expected to graduate in a ceremony
presided over by the university Chancellor, Prof John Struthers and
guest speaker, Amb Eunice Kigenyi, Deputy High commissioner,
Uganda High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya.
The fete scheduled for Friday December 6, is themed “Internationalization of University
Education towards Development of a Competitive Global Workforce.”
The Thika-based institution has been categorized position three out of 15
Kenyan ranked universities that met the requirements to be considered in
the ranking, emerging top among the academic giants. Times Higher
Education Sub-Saharan ranking featured 129 universities from 22
countries in the region.
Regionally, the institution was ranked number 32 out of 129 Sub-
Saharan universities stamping its recognition regionally as a top
academic destination university. Times Higher Education Ranking is a
globally recognised ranking that runs several strategic rankings that
recognizes the best performing universities in different disciplines.
The university continues to implement different policies and strategies to
enhance access and affordable quality education to all people in Africa
and beyond.
One of the key methodologies by the ranking was “assess the impact of
universities in addressing some of the toughest challenges faced in the
region” where MKU has notably invested in state-of -the-art facilities
such as the institute of tropical medicine which fosters research towards
cross cutting diseases affecting the region.
Photo: Dr. Bernard Kanoi, Using the Illumina NextSeq 1000
machine
At the Center for Malaria Elimination MKU acquired the Illumina
NextSeq 1000 machine, the first next-generation sequencer to be owned
by an educational institution in Kenya. This cutting-edge, high-
throughput platform places MKU at the forefront of genomic research,
uniquely equipped to tackle critical health challenges. The sequencer
machine is utilized in cancer research, antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
studies, and the investigation of infectious tropical diseases.
MKU has created a seamless relationship between teaching and research
leading to employable graduates and recognition of researchers such as
Dr. Joyce Gikandi by National Research Fund. “Our students are making
ground breaking innovations and have been featured in key innovations
such as Huawei IT challenge, Zindigi Challenge, AI Hackathon
Competition, Ayute Challenge amongst others,” the university said in a
statement.
MKU underscored its commitment to transformative research. As the
only university in Kenya with such advanced capabilities, we prioritize
impactful research while fostering collaborations with key strategic
partners such as JICA, UNESCO- KNATCOM, UN Volunteers, among
others.
