The Ministry of Education has been petitioned to consider renaming the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) after the late former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
In a letter to the Education Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba, former senior presidential advisor Moses Kuria proposed that the university be renamed Raila Odinga Technical University in his honour.
Kuria revealed that the renaming would honour Raila’s contribution to the field of engineering, one of the key disciplines taught at TUK.
“I have today written to Education CS Julius Ogamba requesting to rename the Technical University of Kenya to Raila Odinga Technical University,” he noted.
“If I were CS, I would do it straight away,” added Kuria, who was also once a Senior Advisor in the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.
Kuria gave a brief history of TUK, which was once tied to the University of Nairobi (UoN), where Raila was once a lecturer.
TUK was once the Engineering wing of UoN and it was later named Kenya Polytechnic.
According to Kuria, renaming TUK to the Raila Odinga Technical University would be the best way to honor Raila’s legacy and acknowledge his great love for technical education.
“Engineer Raila Odinga was not just a lecturer at the UON School of Engineering. He was an ardent believer in technical education since his days at Madelberg College in Germany,” he posited.
Process of Renaming TUK
For the renaming of TUK to happen, the process would have to be governed by the Universities Act, No. 42 of 2012 (Revised 2016), the Technical University of Kenya Charter, 2013, and the Constitution of Kenya (2010), particularly Articles 10, 43, and 232 (on public participation, right to education, and good governance).
The proposal must originate from the Education CS or TUK’s University Council. Public participation is mandatory for such a change. This means consultations must be held with the University Council and Senate, the Commission for University Education (CUE), students, staff unions, the public and alumni.
After consultations, the University Council would formally recommend the name change to the CUE and the CS for Education, stating reasons and public feedback.
Afterward, CUE would then evaluate the university’s charter and legal documents as well as whether the proposed name aligns with national policy and higher education standards. If satisfied, CUE would forward a recommendation to the President through the Education CS.
If satisfied, the President would then issue the final approval and sign a Legal Notice in the Kenya Gazette amending the university’s name, and also issue an amended Charter reflecting the new name.
Once gazetted, the new name becomes legally binding, and the Ministry of Education and the University Council implement it across all documents, branding, and institutional records.
