President William Ruto has announced the gazettement for the establishment of a university in Nyandarua County that is set to accept students by September this year.
Speaking during his third-day tour of the Mt Kenya region in Ol Kalou Town, Nyandarua County, Ruto announced that the government had given the go-ahead for the establishment of Nyandarua University.
The announcement by the head of state means that Nyandarua County is now on the verge of a major academic milestone as the Nyandarua University College will now be elevated to a fully fledged university.
''On Friday, I authorised the establishment of the Nyandarua University, and this has been gazetted. You will now have a university in this county from September this year,'' Ruto announced.
"Students will be formally accepted by September. This came after your leaders approached me on the same,'' he said.
Initially, the institution operated as a constituent college of the University of Nairobi (UoN) after the Commission for University Education (CUE) conducted a technical inspection of the proposed Nyandarua University on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
Ruto's announcement will now be the culmination of a decade-long effort to establish a university in the region.
The vision for a university in Nyandarua began in 2014 when county leaders identified higher education as a catalyst for regional development.
In 2015, the county government partnered with the University of Nairobi to serve as a mentor institution, ensuring the new university met national academic and infrastructure standards.
Nyandarua Governor Moses Kiarie Badilisha repurposed the Agricultural Training Centre in Ol-Joro Orok as the initial campus for the proposed university.
The institution will now attain full university status, following a similar path as Embu University, Machakos University, and the Technical University of Kenya, which all transitioned from constituent campuses of UoN to fully-fledged universities.
In Kenya, for a university to be awarded a charter, it must follow certain steps as provided for by the Universities Act No. 42 of 2012 and overseen by the Commission for University Education (CUE).
To attain a charter, an institution must meet several key requirements, including holding a Letter of Interim Authority (LIA) for at least three years while demonstrating stability and compliance with established educational standards.
