The government has outlined an ambitious program to broaden the scope of the National Research Fund (NRF) in order to elevate Kenya’s research and innovation capacity.
President William Ruto announced that the enhanced investment is expected to raise the nation’s research budget to KSh 1 trillion within the next decade, positioning universities as central drivers of technological advancement and creativity.
While addressing the 3rd Graduation Ceremony of National Defence University–Kenya (NDU-K) in Lanet, Nakuru County, the Head of State said that the state was going to increase the NRF allocation from the present 0.8 percent to 2 percent of the GDP.
Besides, the president anticipated the considerable expansion of the fund to facilitate the deepening of Kenya’s human resources and also the rapid increase of patents and the joining of universities to the job market by way of collaboration.
Graduands and their families gathered at the university grounds for the colourful ceremony, where students were conferred with master’s, bachelor’s, and diploma qualifications across various disciplines.
President Ruto lauded NDU-K for its indispensable contribution to the undertaking of the most sensitive empirical research, which has the most significant impact on national security and development.
As an example, he cited research that is currently being conducted with the aim of finding environmentally safe methods that are capable of completely eliminating the traditional security problems in the northern parts of Kenya and also other new threats.
According to the President, the time had come for the graduates to acquire the qualities of courage, out-of-the-ordinary thinking, and resourcefulness and get themselves ready to deal with complicated issues in a fast-changing and closely-linked world.