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Speech by Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi Vice-Chancellor

SPEECH BY PROF. DEOGRATIUS JAGANYI VICE-CHANCELLOR

 DURING THE MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY 27TH GRADUATION CEREMONY

 GRADUATION THEME: CATALYZING INNOVATION: UNIVERSITIES AS DRIVERS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 ON  FRIDAY, 8TH AUGUST 2025

 AT MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY HAPPY VALLEY GROUNDS, THIKA

 

  • Salutation
  • The Chancellor, Prof. John Struthers,
  • The Chancellor Designate, Mount Kigali University Rwanda, Prof. Egara Kabaji,
  • The Guest Speaker, Tonny Omwansa, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA),
  • Archbishop Anthony Muheria, Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Nyeri,
  • Members of the University Board of Directors,
  • Chairman, Mount Kenya University Council, Dr. Vincent Gaitho,
  • Members of the Mount Kenya University Council,
  • Vice-Chancellor, Mount Kigali University, Rwanda, Dr. Martin Kimemia,
  • Vice-Chancellors and Representatives present,
  • Members of University Management Board and Senate,
  • Your Excellencies,
  • Distinguished Guests,
  • Mount Kenya University Staff,
  • Parents and Guardians,
  • Graduands and Students,
  • Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning.

  • Preliminary Remarks

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the 27th Graduation ceremony of Mount Kenya University and the 4th Graduation ceremony of Equip Africa Institute. It also gives me much gratitude to congratulate all the graduands for completing their studies successfully. Their success was made possible by collective support by various parties. To this end, I recognize and appreciate the support accorded to the graduands by parents, guardians and staff among others during their studies.

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, during our last graduation held on December 2024, MKU graduated Seven Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-Eight (7448) graduands. Today’s graduation ceremony is profoundly unique in that, we are not only graduating the highest number of graduands in the recent times from MKU but also, have graduands for Equip Africa Institute, graduating with MKU graduands for the first time. Its worthy noting that, Equip Africa Institute is the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) - accredited arm of MKU. In total, we have Eight Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Four (8724) graduands, comprising of Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Thirty-Eight (8638) graduands from MKU and Eighty-Six (86) graduands from Equip Africa Institute. All these graduands have fulfilled all the academic programme requirements for conferment of various degrees and award of various diplomas and certificates as follows:

  1. Ten (10) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degrees.
  2. Six hundred and ninety-one (691) Master’s Degrees.
  3. One hundred and fifty (150) Postgraduate Diplomas.
  4. Five thousand, four hundred and forty-seven (5,447) Bachelor’s Degrees.
  5. One thousand, nine hundred and sixty-five (1,965) Diplomas, and
  6.  Four Hundred and sixty-one (461) Certificates

 

  • Student Matters

 Student Enrolment

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to note that a lot of concerted efforts has continued to be invested in striving to ensure that the University enrolls students for various academic programmes. In the current semester/ trimester of May - August 2025, the University registered a total of 60,223 and 1,762 students in Mount Kenya University and Equip Africa Institute respectively. These statistics represent the highest student enrolment that the University has ever achieved in the May-August semester/ trimester period.

 

  • Student Co-Curricular Activities

Mr. Chancellor sir, the University has continued to grow the talents of our students’ sports and creative performing arts division. Since the last graduation, students have participated and excelled in the following events:

  1. During the East Africa University games that took place in December 2024 at Maseno University, our teams emerged the best overall in: Badminton, Athletics and Woodball ladies. Also, at the Kenya National University Championship held in February this year, MKU teams dominated by being crowned champions in: badminton ladies, woodball men and ladies, and table tennis ladies.
  1. In the Kenya National Drama Festivals that were held at Nakuru Lions School and Menengai High School, for a second year in a row, MKU was declared best University and also the Most prolific University at the Kenya National Drama Festival, 2025. This good performance earned the drama group a ticket to represent the University at the East Africa Music, Dance and Drama Festivals scheduled for later in the month of August 2025 in Uganda. Mr. Chancellor sir, even as this ceremony is ongoing, the University is being represented at the Kenya Music Festivals in Meru County, where our students are competing in various categories, we wish them success.
  • Mount Kenya University, being an inclusive institution continues to support students enabled differently, whose enrolment keeps rising.
    It is in this spirit that the University celebrated the 5th Disability Awareness Day on 4th July 2025, under the theme “Social Attitude of Love, Equity and Friendship Connection”.

 

Further, in partnership with the Kenya Sports Association for the Visually Impaired (KESAVI), Mount Kenya University Persons with Disabilities Association organized and hosted goalball tournaments in March, 2025 where several institutions participated.

In the spirit of mentoring leadership within the students’ community, a successful MKUSA elections saw elected student leaders including those from Equip Africa Institute being taken for a week-long induction and training retreat in Mombasa. They interacted with members of the University Board, Council, and the Management. In the months of March and July respectively, two leadership fora took place having been organized by MKUSA and they attracted student leaders from across different universities whose guest of honors were, Mr. Aurelia Chepkirui Rono the Principal Secretary for State Department for Parliamentary Affairs within the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary in Kenya and Honorable Martin Mushisho, the Deputy Governor of Kajiado (an alumnus of MKU). Further, in the month of May, our student leaders attended “The National Prayer Breakfast” organized by the State and thereafter a retreat at Maanzoni, organized by African Youth Leadership Forum (AYLF).

Under Chaplaincy, the Christian Union (CU) held a mini-mission at Ol-Ndonyo-Sabuk in March and in the month of April, they held an end of semester mission at Kimana-Oloitoktok, in Kajiado County. Our SDA community helped in establishing a Church in the interior parts of Meru County while MKU YCS under core values of “See, Judge and Act” in the month of February embarked on a transformative charity mission to Shades Children’s Home where they assisted with washing of clothes, sorting grains, cooking, food distribution and cleaning the compound. By extension, the University together with well-wishers supported the Students Muslim community celebrate the month of Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr in the month of March and Eid al-Adha in the month of June.

I wish to observe that MKU is committed to continue producing well rounded and grounded graduates prepared to unlock infinite possibilities like the ones we are celebrating today.

  • Academic Programmes

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, our graduation theme today of “Catalyzing Innovation: Universities as Drivers of Artificial Intelligence” precisely captures the University renewed and envisaged strategic direction, re-thinking where all university curricula will embrace artificial intelligence attributes, to effectively enhance pedagogy for increased educational outcomes. In this regard, MKU has continued to mount new curricula as well as revise and revamp the existing curricula.

To this end, the University Council has approved and supported a total of thirteen (13) programmes, key among these curricula being Master of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, both of which will be offered in the School of Computing and Informatics.

  • Research, Innovation and Community Engagement

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mount Kenya University has continued to implement her strategy on research, innovation and community engagement.

Consequently, it gives me great pride and joy to address you today as we reflect on the strides Mount Kenya University continues to make in nurturing innovation, entrepreneurship and global collaboration fronts. At the heart of our vision lies a firm belief that “our university must be a breeding ground for job creators, not only job seekers”.

Through the Mount Kenya University Innovation and Incubation Centre, we continue to champion the Idea to Market program—a bold initiative that supports our students in transforming their innovative ideas into impactful, market-ready solutions. This program lies at the core of our commitment to produce future-ready graduates equipped to thrive in a dynamic global economy.

In this spirit, I am delighted to bring to your attention a remarkable milestone in our international innovation journey. Three of our students, through a competitive selection process, were chosen to participate in the Africa Meets Bavaria innovation exchange program. This project fosters cross-continental collaboration between Bavaria, Germany and African countries, with a special focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and research. These outstanding students are currently undertaking internships at leading companies in Munich, Germany—gaining hands-on experience, building global networks and contributing Kenyan ingenuity to the world stage.

I am equally pleased to note that the second cohort of the Africa Meets Bavaria program begins this August, with a bold target of training 100 students in digital product development, with a special focus on Artificial Intelligence. This is yet another step toward equipping our youth with the skills that will define the industries of tomorrow. By extension, another exciting development is that; two of our students emerged winners in Business Idea Competition, an annual event hosted by the prestigious African German Entrepreneurship Academy (AGEA) to spotlight and support research-based start-ups from African universities. These students will be traveling to Leipzig University in Germany this September to pitch their innovations—an opportunity that not only showcases their talent but also places MKU firmly on the global innovation map.

Finally, allow me to bring to your attention that: MKU Center for Malaria Elimination recently hosted the 3rd MaModAfrica Annual Symposium that brought together participants from eight African nations: Mozambique, Rwanda, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, and Namibia in transformative dialogue. The symposium successfully reviewed progress, shared lessons learned, and strengthened partnerships, establishing a foundation for future regional collaboration and sustainable disease control efforts throughout sub-Saharan Africa. lastly, I note that, the MaModAfrica consortium has achieved remarkable success over three years, training over thirty (30) masters and eight (8) PhD students while forging strategic partnerships with National Malaria Control Programmes.

These achievements are a testament to what our students can accomplish when they are empowered, supported and challenged to innovate beyond boundaries. We continue to believe in our young innovators. Let us continue to invest in them—not just for their future, but for the future of our continent. As earlier indicated, we are looking forward towards progressive utilization of AI for: accelerated innovation and research, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and driving societal transformation.

 

 6.0   Quality Assurance

Mr. Chancellor Sir, Ladies and Gentlemen, in alignment with our strategic vision to uphold excellence in service delivery and institutional integrity, the Directorate of Quality Assurance has led a transformative initiative—the successful integration of the ISO 27001:2022 Information Security Management System into our existing ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System. This integration has culminated in the establishment of a robust Integrated Management System (IMS), marking a significant milestone in enhancing operational efficiency, safeguarding institutional data, and reinforcing our quality assurance processes.

The adoption of this dual ISO framework is guided by three strategic objectives: first, is to uphold the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of University information, forming a critical foundation for secure digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness; second, is to ensure full compliance with the Data Protection Act (2019) and related regulatory requirements on data privacy and security; and third, is to institutionalize a proactive risk management culture that strengthens resilience and builds lasting confidence among our stakeholders.

As part of this broader agenda, the University continues to strengthen its internal quality assurance mechanisms in support of our commitment to academic and operational excellence. To this end, the University has: aligned its operations with international ISO standards, continued with regular internal audits and performance reviews, conducted targeted capacity building and sensitization for staff, institutionalized systematic monitoring of academic delivery and student feedback, and has adopted data-informed risk management strategies.

The cumulative impact of these efforts is ensuring compliance with both national and international quality benchmarks. Most importantly, they position Mount Kenya University as a forward-looking institution, fully prepared to lead in the integration of AI-driven innovations in teaching, research, and community engagement.

 

  • Conclusion

Finally, as I conclude, I wish to observe that, Mount Kenya University has equipped the esteemed graduands, with the requisite competencies; industry– based knowledge, skills, and values essential for success in your respective fields. As you transit into the next phase of your journey, I urge you to go forth with confidence, integrity, and a strong sense of purpose. Use the competencies you have acquired not only to pursue excellence in your careers but also to make meaningful contributions to your communities and the world at large. Be bold, be innovative, and let your actions inspire positive change. Congratulations on your achievement, and may God bless you all.

 

Prof. Deogratius JAGANYI

VICE-CHANCELLOR

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