A year after Moi: How Kabarak University is fairing amid Covid-19

As Kenya marks a year since the death of former president Daniel arap Moi, who passed away on February 4 2020, one of his best remembered legacies is Kabarak University.

The university was founded in October 2002 by Moi, the aim to meet the demand for higher education in Kenya and offer quality education based on Christian principles.

Moi was Chancellor of Kabarak until his death. The school, which occupies 600 acres, offers various courses in Business, Theology, Science, Engineering, Technology and Education.

The vice chancellor, Prof Henry Kiplangat, talks about how the institution is coping amid Covid-19.

It’s a tough season for learning institutions, how are you doing?

In his last days before his death, mzee Moi said he was happy with what he was seeing at the university. He loved education and left a strong legacy. He wanted the graduates of Kabarak University to be men and women of integrity. He reminded us to have the self-control to succeed. He was time-conscious man. We're now operationalising his vision and the mission for the sake of students and this country. 

The former president sponsored many needy students at the university, is this programme still on?

The programme is still on. We're working with friends to boost this kitty. One of the key values of Mzee Moi was being mindful of helping the needy. We’ll ensure that the less fortunate get an opportunity to continue with their education as he would have wanted.

We provide limited scholarships to our students under two categories, one is a work study programme where students work for the university and their earnings converted to tuition fees, the second is the needy students’ endowment fund which caters for students that are not well off.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected Kabarak University?

Last year was not so easy. It was a tough year. We lost our chancellor, and hardly a month after, the Covid-19 pandemic was reported in the country, leading to closure of learning institutions. Like other schools, we switched to online learning, but not all of our students were able to register due to various challenges including lack of internet, gadgets and money.

As it is, about 27 percent of our students did not register for the online programme, which translated to a loss of income for the university. Of course, the students who did not register for online learning had to defer their studies. They are expected to resume learning this semester.

How did the pandemic affect the human resource at the university and how did you deal with it?

We could no longer meet our obligations, and were forced to lay off staff while we sent some on unpaid leave. As for those that were left behind, they had to make do with a pay cut. Pension funds were also deferred. Thankfully, we were able to switch to e-learning very fast since we have a well-equipped online centre which came in handy.

What mitigation measures did you devise to keep the university afloat?

I gave the university fraternity an updated state of the financial position. I showed them the implications of the pandemic and made it clear, with proven financial statistics, that we didn't have enough resources to pay all their emoluments as budgeted.

The top management, academic staff and senior administrative staff took a salary cut. We then embraced online teaching, which attracted students, enabling us to pay salaries. Teaching staff were also persuaded to take more workload, saving the university a substantial amount of money that would have been used to hire part-time lecturers.

What lessons has the university picked from this situation?

One key lesson that I have learnt is that as an institution of higher learning, it is mandatory to embrace Information Communication Technology. E-learning is cheaper for the student. For an institution like ours, we can leverage on economies of scale by charging less tuition fees to attract more students and have some substantial income for the institution. It's also advisable to have a rapid response mechanism to respond to crisis because you never know when the crisis will hit you.

As a learning institution, we also need to work closely with the community. The university has ideas and knowledge that must be passed to the community. Some communities still believe Covid-19 is not real while others believe it's a Western disease, it's therefore upon the university to engage the local community and explain the gravity of this pandemic besides taking containment measures.

What valuable life lessons you have picked from the pandemic?

That this life is very short, therefore I must give my best to the world as long as I'm alive and have energy. We should also not wait for the Western world to conduct research, we need to invest as a country and institutions of higher learning in research.

Kabarak is a Christian-based university and students are expected to attend a church service every Wednesday. What containment measures have you put in place to ensure all students get spiritual nourishment?

Even before the pandemic, our chapel was small yet the student population is nearly 10,000. The university bought a huge tent that can accommodate 6,000 people. This has enabled us to observe the Ministry of Health protocols. The service is also streamed on large screens, therefore the students don’t have to congregate at one spot.

Does the university management have plans to open other campuses across the country?

The university management team, the governing council and trustees have agreed to cap the university population at 10,000 to provide quality education. We have no plans to open satellite campuses. We shall maintain only one campus in Nakuru town. We're not interested in mass production of graduates, our aim is to produce quality graduates who can create wealth, not job seekers of white collar jobs.

How have government-sponsored students benefited from the university’s system of education management?

We don't give special treatment to students whether they are private or government-sponsored. We don't segregate students in the university. All students are treated equally and enjoy the same facilities and services.

What is the biggest challenge the university is facing due to the placement of the government-sponsored students?

The student capitation has been reducing for the past four years. We used to get Sh70,000 capitation per student. This has reduced to Sh40,000 per student, which is constraining the university. We pay our staff and other overhead costs with this increased student population. The government should implement the differentiated unit cost policy. I appeal to the government to increase capitation to enable the university to maintain its quality of graduates.

What other means has the university devised to raise money instead of depending on tuition fees?

We have a business arm of the university, Kabarak University Enterprises Limited, which runs the university farm, catering services, hostels and other income generating projects such as the guest house. We also plan to establish a solar plant at the university which will be part of the income generating strategy. The academic staff has been writing grant proposals and 10 percent of the awarded amount remains at the university. Teaching staff must apply for grants every year, which is part of their performance contract.

What plans does the university have for post-graduate studies?

We have seven schools at the university which have masters and PhD students. Last year, we graduated 14 PhDs and over 20 master’s students.

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