Koitalel Samoei university land row resolved, works to resume
Koitaleel Samoei University College gate at Mosoriot, Nandi County.
A land row that derailed the setting up of the multimillion Koitalel Samoei University College in Nandi County has been settled and works are expected to resume when the national government allocates funds for the project.
The university was allocated 100 acres at Koitalel Samoei Secondary School in Nandi Hills town, where the main campus is under construction.
A further 50 acres were allocated to the project at Mosoriot Teachers Training College, where the university is currently operating from.
Prof Risely Kavu Ngala, the chairman of the university, announced that Prof Winston Akala would take over as principal and Prof Rose Korir as his deputy.
Confidence in new team
Prof Ngala expressed confidence that the new team headed by the two will resolve the challenges facing the college and that they will work with the local community to tackle housing problems facing students.
The Koitalel Samoei University College management team. Prof Risely Ngala is seated in blue jeans and Nandi County Deputy Governor Dr Yulta Mitei in pink dress.
The former acting principal, Prof Jackson Too, has returned to the Commission for University Education (CUE). He previously worked at Moi University for several years before joining Koitalel Samoei. He took over from founding the principal, Prof Gideon Misoi, who went back to the University of Nairobi.
Prof Akala, the new principal, explained that the university was facing challenges, including accommodating new students.
He said the university has taken a new direction in order to achieve its objectives. He appealed to the local community and investors to put up hostels near the school, noting that the development will create business opportunities in Mosoriot and Nandi Hills towns.
He said financial challenges facing public universities in Kenya had delayed construction at the main campus, adding that since land issues had been resolved, work was expected to resume.
Prof Winston Akala is the new Principal Koitalel Samoei University College.
Accommodation challenges
Prof Akala and Prof Korir explained that the university has over 700 students and 433 new students are expected by September 2022.
They urged locals around the university to establish hostels and decent housing facilities for university staff, most of whom are operating from Eldoret and Kapsabet because of a housing shortage.
Once fully established, the university will have a campus at Kaimosi Farmers Training College, where it will run a school of agriculture. There are also plans to set up a school of law at the main campus in Nandi Hills in honour of the great Nandi laibon who was murdered by the colonial government in 1905 during the Nandi Resistance against British regime.
Leaders and professionals from Nandi County have since 2020 petitioned the National Treasury to provide money for the Koitalel Samoei project.
During election campaigns in 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto laid a foundation stone at Samoei Secondary School and announced that the university would be completed within two years. But work was delayed because of unresolved land issues.
Nandi MPs push
Nandi MPs, led by Julius Meli (Tindiret), Vicenti Tuwei (Mosop), Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Alex Kosgey (Emgwen), Cornelius Serem (Aldai) and Tecla Tum (woman rep), and Senator Samson Cherargei have been pushing the national government to allocate sufficient funds for infrastructure development at the college.
Nandi Deputy Governor Yulta Mitei noted that the county was committed to supporting the university in its efforts to establish a sports academy.
“The interests of the Nandi community are a top priority and political differences will not be allowed to derail the university as leaders want the national government to provide funds [for] the first ever public university in Nandi,” he said.
Prof Misoi, the first Koitalel Samoei principal, previously explained that the main university college would be established in Nandi Hills at Samoei High School, while Mosoriot TTC was chosen to host the school of education and business.
He had indicated that the university would have six campuses in Nandi County.
The university was formed during the tenure of former Nandi Governor Cleophas Lagat, who lost the 2017 elections to current Governor Stephen Sang.
