MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY Exemplary Award of Mount Kenya University to Dr. Kilemi Mwiria during the 4th Graduation Ceremony Friday, 7th December, 2012 Scaling the Heights of Education
VISION To be a center for excellence in training, research and innovation in Science and Technology MISSION To attain world class standards in training and innovation for sustainable individual prosperity and social development PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT Harnessing knowledge in applied social sciences and technology for service of humanity ACADEMIC CHARACTER With an emphasis of science and technology, Mount Kenya University offers an all- round education, including moral and professional education to all persons irrespective of religion, race, and political affiliation, social and cultural background.it endeavors to develop well trained manpower, equipped with technological scientific knowledge and capacities from Certificate, Diploma, Degree and postgraduate courses.
Dr. Kilemi Mwiria
Citation On the morning of May 17 in the year 1954, a boy child was born to Joseph M lithira and Elizabeth Ngoki, in Antubaita Village, Tigania West, Meru County. They agreed to call him Kilemi (meaning the one never to be a sycophant). The boy grew up in his humble home and village. His peasant parents sent him to the local primary school (Mutharra), then to the only secondary school in Tigania then, Miathene High School. He was top student in Miathene after which he joined Kangaru High School Embu. He then joined the University of Nairobi where he won the De Souza Na Kenya Shell prizes for being the best student in his BA class before graduating with a degree in Sociology. Because of his exemplary performance, he was awarded a University of Nairobi staff Development fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation. This was the most prestigious university staff development fellowship then. This scholarship took the young and talented Kilemi to the University of Chicago in the USA where he pursued a master s degree in Comparative Education and later to the prestigious Stanford University where he obtained a PhD in International Education. After his studies abroad, he returned to Kenya and joined Kenyatta University as a Research Fellow at the Bureau of Education, rising to the rank of Senior Research Fellow. Concerned about the poor working conditions of the public university staff and politicization of university education, Dr Mwiria joined other like-minded academics to found the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) where he served as the Union s first Secretary General. As fate would have it, Dr Mwiria and his comrades-in-arms were sacked after calling and engaging in the longest university staff strike in the history of Kenya; it lasted over six months. Being a hardened fighter, Dr Kilemi did not retreat to his Meru backyard or to heard cows and goats or engage in coffee, Tea or Miraa and other types of farming and trade! He first got a senior researcher position at the prestigious University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, before taking up to full time consulting in education. He was a well respected expert and
Citation attracted consulting assignments from many organizations, such as: UNESCO UNICEF The World Bank The African Development Bank Association for the Development of African Education (ADEA) The International development Research Centre (Canada) Association of Commonwealth Universities The German Foundation for International Development The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) The Rockefeller Foundation The British Council Commonwealth Higher Education Management Service Department for International Development (DFID KRI International Corp American Institute for Research Aurora Associates Cambridge Education Consultants Carnegie Corporation Creative Associates International Inc. The Organisation of Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) The South African Association for Academic Development (SAAD) The Southern Education Research Initiative (SERI), In 2002, he successfully vied for the Tigania West Parliamentary seat and was re-elected in 2007. As MP, Dr Mwiria has done his constituency proud by serving as Assistant Minister for Education (2003 2007) and again for Higher Education, Science & Technology (2008-2012). In these two capacities he has done much to promote education in the country. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Constitution Implementation Committee that is overseeing implementation of Kenya s land mark constitution. Since the year 2003, Dr Kilemi has been a regular columnist with the two leading Kenyan dailies (The Nation and The Standard) on education, society and politics and has delivered many policy
statements in Parliament. Those who read his column can attest to Dr. Mwiria s positive thoughts on the direction this country should be heading. Mount Kenya University recognizes and celebrates Dr Kilemi Mwiria for: His widely published incisive academic publications on education and the numerous non-technical newspaper articles meant for the wider Kenyan public Spearheading the founding of UASU which liberated the staff of the Kenyan universities who had been living in fear and intimidation and abject poverty Being part of the policy body that initiated free primary education, subsidized day secondary education and now the democratization of university education with the opening up of many constituent colleges and technical institutes in every county Advocating expansion of the private university sector through appropriate incentives such duty waivers on import of educational materials which, we, at Mount Kenya University sincerely appreciate Being Kenya s Ambassador in soliciting support for higher education development (scholarships and grants) from friendly countries and to expound Kenya s position to world bodies such UNESCO, the Atomic Energy Agency and the Africa Development Bank, among others; Always being a committed defender and promoter of government policy on basic, second\\ary and higher education in parliament and other fora Starting a programme to send his young disadvantaged constituents and other Kenyans to America for higher education. Many of the graduates (including PhDs) have made a real difference in their families Mount Kenya University is proud to be associated with this great Kenyan and hereby award him our highest Honour! Dr Kilemi, please!...
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