President Uhuru has honoured a pledge he made to Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in October 2020.
In a special event at State House on Wednesday, December 2, the president awarded the church a charter recognising Presbyterian as a fully-fledged university.
Speaking during the charter award ceremony held at State House, Nairobi, the President challenged the new university to offer courses that give solutions to current challenges facing humanity.
“I wish to state that this university has all it takes to be a continental and global leader in tertiary education, research & development, innovation, and provision of solutions to the pressing problems of the day,” the president stated.
He further noted that the state was proud to count the church as a steadfast partner in national development especially in sharing the vision of a better and prosperous Kenya for all.
“Since the dawn of our Republic, the Church in Kenya has played a pivotal role in our national life. Beyond nourishing the soul and the spirit through spreading the Gospel, the Church has followed in the footsteps of Christ by establishing schools, hospitals, feeding centres, and community-support programmes,” added the head of state.
With the elevation of the Presbyterian University today, Kenya now has a total of 74 fully-fledged universities, up from one single university in 1970. Of the 74, 38 are public while 36 are private universities.
In terms of student numbers, the country has over half a million university students currently from a population of less than 2,000 in 1970.
The newly installed Chancellor of PCEA University, who is also the church’s moderator, Rt Reverend Julius Mwamba thanked the President for awarding them the charter saying the idea of a university was born by the pioneers of the church.
He said the setting up of the university was in line with the church’s philosophy of taking care of the soul, mind and body adding that the PCEA Church would continue partnering with the government in the delivery of public services.
“The Church has complimented the Government in all ways especially in the area of education and health. It is this ideal of educational concern as expressed in this article that prompted Presbyterian Church of East Africa to establish the PCEA University. By doing so the Church is similarly ready to join hands with the Government to improve the lives of Kenyans through quality education,” Rev Mwamba said.
Uhuru, during the October function marking a hundred years since the founding of the PCEA Church, had promised to award the then college a charter at the end of November.
He had also promised that his administration would give the church Ksh100 million for completion of some stalled projects, facelift and installation of modern equipment at the PCEA Tumutumu Hospital.
The head of state had recognised that the religious institution played a pivotal role in sending his father, Jomo Kenyatta, to school.
In 1909, Kenyatta, then known as Kamau wa Ngengi, left home and joined the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) at Thogoto, Kikuyu Sub-county.
While at CSM, which later morphed into PCEA, Kenyatta was taught to read and write English after which he was baptised to become Johnstone Kamau Ngengi.
