Mount Kenya University (MKU) has signed a collaboration agreement with Namibia’s International University of Management, whose main campus is based in Windhoek.
The memorandum of understanding was signed during a ceremony held on Friday at the MKU main campus in Thika that was graced by the Vice President of the Republic of Namibia, Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, the MKU Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi, and the International University of Management (IUM)’s coordinator, School of Medicine, Prof. Peter Nyarango.
Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Mbumba said the collaboration agreement would facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices between the two institutions’ medical schools.
“We want to educate and train our students to become real scientists and not seekers of academic papers, and I believe that this agreement will ensure that this is done across international borders,” he said.
MKU VC Prof. Jaganyi noted that both countries have Vision Statements (Kenya Vision 2030 and Namibia Vision 2030) that are similarly directed towards the creation of strong health care systems that have the capacity required to serve their respective nations in terms of the provision of adequate, affordable, and reliable health care.
“We want to see healthy and food-secured nations in which all preventable infections and parasitic diseases are under control and where citizens enjoy a high standard of living and a good quality of life, which will ultimately translate into long life expectancy and sustainable population growth. When medical schools and governments partner on a cross-border basis and benchmark with each other, it becomes a full-proof way of contributing towards reduced inequalities in healthcare within the continent,” said Prof. Jaganyi.
The partnership shall be carried out subject to the availability of funds and the approval of both vice chancellors of the universities through programmes and academic engagements between MKU’s College of Health Sciences and IUM’s Medical School in the areas of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching that shall also include staff and student exchange programmes and online learning.
The MOU also paves the way for partnerships in medical electives, extra-mural rotations, joint research and publications, community engagement, and primary healthcare, plus any other relevant activities that may be mutually agreed upon. The partnership will also be extended to involve other schools/faculties at the two universities in the near future.
The Namibian institution was founded in 1994 as a college and was accredited as a fully-fledged university in 2002, known as the International University of Management.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two will run for five years, subject to renewal by both parties.
By Hellen Lunalo
