The Ministry of Education has been asked to rename the Technical University of Kenya (TUK) after the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
It was the appeal by former senior presidential advisor Moses Kuria, contained in a letter to Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, in which he proposed the university be renamed Raila Odinga Technical University of Kenya.
Kuria explained the move would be a deserving tribute to Raila’s legacy in the field of engineering and his tremendous long time endeavor to promote technical education in the entire country.
“I have just written a letter to Education CS Julius Ogamba requesting that he name the Technical University of Kenya after Raila Odinga Raila Odinga Technical University,” Kuria explained, adding an additional remark, “If I were CS, I would do it today.”.
Kuria, a former Senior Advisor in the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, remembered that the university has its origins in the nation’s engineering heritage an area Raila is closely linked to.
Prior to acquiring independence, the Technical University of Kenya was the engineering school of the University of Nairobi and was afterward renamed the Kenya Polytechnic before being called by its new name.
“Raila Odinga was not just a lecturer at the University of Nairobi School of Engineering. He was a strong stalwart of technical education from when he was at Madelberg College in Germany,” Kuria said, adding that having the university named after him would be an appropriate recognition of Raila’s heritage.
For consideration, the name change should be carried out based on a set formal legal procedure as prescribed by the Universities Act, the TUK Charter of 2013, and the Kenyan Constitution.
According to these regulations, that change may only be initiated by the University Council or the Education Cabinet Secretary.
It further has to have massive public participation involving staff, students, alumni, unions, and members of the public before it is submitted officially to the Commission for University Education (CUE).
The CUE would then vet the proposal and, upon approval, forward it to the President through the Education CS. The President would be the final authority, endorsing the new name through a Legal Notice in the Kenya Gazette.
If approved, the new name Raila Odinga Technical University of Kenya would appear on all official documents, signage, and institutional records, ushering in a new beginning for one of the most experienced technical schools in Kenya.
