Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you all on this occasion of awarding a Charter to Strathmore University. The institution, which began as an ‘A’ level College in 1961, is today joining the ranks of our country’s full-fledged universities.

I wish to congratulate the sponsors, including the Catholic Church as well as individuals and companies that have played a part towards the development of this premier institution. Indeed, I have no doubt that the founders of Strathmore are today proud that we are inaugurating what is the most important milestone in the development of this educational institution.

From humble beginnings as an institution offering ‘A’ level education and later accounting courses, I am glad to note that Strathmore is now offering 25 programmes, which include 5 postgraduate programmes, 2 undergraduate programmes, 4 Certificate courses and 4 Executive programmes.

I am also happy to see that the University has made commendable progress in staff recruitment as well as development of infrastructure, including a modern library. The student numbers have also increased steadily to over 5,000 currently, with 49 full time academic members of staff and 33 part-time lecturers. This is a major achievement and I take the opportunity to commend the sponsors and all those who have been involved in Strathmore’s impressive journey of growth and expansion.

Along this journey, Strathmore College has supplied our country with top-class accountants. Some of these are holding high positions in the public and private sectors in Kenya, while others are serving our neighbouring countries in the Eastern and Southern African region. Indeed, the stewardship of Kenya’s corporate sector owes much gratitude to Strathmore College, not just for its ability to supply qualified accountants, but also for the high level of professionalism by past graduates of this institution.

Today therefore, Strathmore begins another new and long journey of academic excellence. After years of rigorous preparation you are now being accredited as a fully-fledged university. You have made much progress, but there is still much more that remains to be done. In this respect, I welcome the University’s strategic plan that targets the addition of more than 10 new academic programmes as well as growth in student numbers to about 6,500 in the next ten years. I urge the University community and the sponsors to work hard towards achieving these goals and to aim even higher.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s global economy is knowledge driven. For our country and people to remain competitive, therefore, we must continue to invest heavily in the acquisition of knowledge and skills. It is on the basis of this understanding that my Government has taken a wide range of measures to expand and streamline our education sector and to ensure that all Kenyans, especially the upcoming generations, acquire specialized knowledge and skills. In this regard, and beyond the provision of free primary and secondary education, my Government has stepped up measures to enhance access to university education. We have done this by opening the doors of middle-level public institutions to offer degree programmes.

Moreover, we have continued to increase financial allocations to public universities as well as the Higher Education Loans Board in order to enable needy students access University education through cheap loans, scholarships and bursaries. In addition, and as the demand for higher education continues to increase, my Government is encouraging the private sector and religious organizations to establish universities and other institutions of higher learning. This is in line with Government’s policy as provided for in Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 on Education, Training and Research.

I am happy to note that as a result of the strong partnership between the Government and the private sector, access to University education has improved substantially in the last few years. Indeed, this has gone a long way towards reducing capital flight, as fewer Kenyans are now seeking further education abroad. In addition, my Government will continue to provide incentives in order to increase private investments in education and enable all deserving students to access higher education within the country.

In last year’s budget speech, for example, the Government proposed that expenditure on social infrastructure such as public schools and hospitals be exempted from income tax deductions. I am convinced that the implementation of this measure will greatly enhance private-public participation in social development sectors such as education and health. I urge private investors, both local and foreign, to take full advantage of this and other incentives to expand existing institutions and develop new ones.

In addition to expanding opportunities for higher education, my Government has taken steps to ensure that our students receive quality and relevant education. My Government is enhancing the capacity of the Commission of Higher Education to ensure provision of high quality education in public and private universities. We are also undertaking Legal reforms aimed at ensuring the appropriate regulation of education providers in order to protect Kenyans from sub-standard education and training. I am proud to note that our efforts in this direction have enabled graduates of Kenyan institutions of higher learning to compete favorably in the regional and international markets. I challenge this University, and all universities in the country, to strive to be premier institutions of higher learning in this region and beyond.

I wish at this stage to emphasize the need for our Universities to place greater premium on ensuring that the content of our education remains relevant to the demands of the labour market both in Kenya and globally. We should aim at producing graduates who can work in any part of the world and who can be competitive on the regional and global labour markets.

This is particularly important for our efforts in addressing the challenge of unemployment in our country. Our institutions of learning must now increasingly focus on training graduates who will be readily absorbed in the labour market. Equally important, I challenge Universities in the country to intensify their efforts in research and to collaborate closely with stakeholders, particularly industry.

As I conclude, I wish to once again thank the sponsors of this University for their foresight and persistence in planning for the development of this institution. You have rendered valuable service to this country by supplementing the government’s efforts in the provision of higher education. I urge you to continue to develop Strathmore into a world-class university.

With these remarks, I once again congratulate the Board of Trustees and the entire Strathmore University community for receiving the charter today. I wish you all a prosperous future.

Thank you and God bless you all.