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{
    "id": 469814,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/469814/?format=api",
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    "content": "So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us not mislead Kenyans and try to heap blame. Let us blame victims who need universities just like those others. We are aware there is Masinde Muliro University, where the Mover of this Motion comes from. He should be thanking President Kibaki day and night because he is the Chancellor of Masinde Muliro University. The former President is not a chancellor of any other university; he is only a Chancellor of Masinde Muliro University. The senator should ask why he is so lucky that it is only the university in Kakamega County where the former President is a chancellor and not a chancellor of any other university. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the approach we should take is really to move on. What do we do as the Senate to make sure that we correct the historical injustices? What do we do as a Senate to make sure that university education is spread in all the counties of this country? What do we do as a Senate to make sure that, given where we have started, we have done affirmative action so that those who are behind catch up with the rest? I think this is the language we should be talking as a Senate. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Motion is appealing to the national Government to establish, at least, one university in every county. I support this Motion because under the Constitution, it is the core business of the national Government t o deal with issues of higher education. But we have been in Government; even the Mover was an Assistant Minister and he knows what competition there is for national resources. We will try our best to get as much resources from the national Government to all the counties as we can. But I think we can do more. We can pass a law here in the Senate which makes it mandatory for all the county governments, in their budgets, to include the establishment of one university in their county. So, if there is another one coming from the national Government, that is well and good. We should make it mandatory for the county governments to establish universities in their counties. Since the Senate has oversight functions, I think we can go round and see whether they are doing it or not. In my own county, I have one public university established about two years ago; that is the Meru University of Science and Technology, just like Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. We have done more because we have three universities now. We have Mt. Kenya University and Nazarene University. In addition to the resources from the national Government and the county governments, we should also be able to mobilize people and create the right conditions for the private sector to invest in the expansion of university opportunities across the country. Our main concern about this proliferation of universities is the quality and the relevance of what is being taught in those universities. We might invest so many resources to produce unemployable graduates. I was talking to one Minister from a neighbouring country, the Minister for Disaster Management. He was telling me that the greatest disasters that we are likely to face in East Africa are not natural disasters, but social disasters. When you walk around Nairobi, you will see many people coming from universities at night, but if you ask them what they are doing you will find that most of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}