AFRICAN SCHOLAR STARTS UNIVERSITY FROM SCRATCH
Kanini Evans Kariuki
October 07, 2009
READ THE MOVING AND SPECIAL REPORT ON ROLE MODEL WHO STARTED MOUNT KENYA UNIVERSITY FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.HERE WE GO.........
SIMON GICHARU-an intensely intelligent and wise scholar from Kenya,is among the most outstanding stars of the moment Africa has ever produced.
HE is a great thinker and firm believer in what he aspires to achieve.
Failure is not within his domain or vocabulary.
By and large,Gicharu is an achiever and go-getter.
He can think from the largest to the smallest of particles, and conceive an idea that can leave many dumbfounded.
That is how he came up with the noble idea of building the Mount Kenya University.
Gicharu is also a generous contributor to educational projects and programs.
He is known and respected in various circles due to his commitment in educational development.
His most recent and visible public appearance was at the Nkuene Girl's secondary school,Imenti South,Central Kenya,where he donated Ksh 100,000 to wild applause and feet-thumping from the huge crowd.
Among those at the function were Kenya's minister of Energy Kiraitu Murungi, and retired President Daniel arap Moi.
Back to Gicharu,his burning ambition is to make Kenya and Africa a success story in so far as educational progress is concerned.
For Kenya and Africa to scale giddy heights in education is his desire.
But how many people in the world have started a University even with all the support,let alone from humble backgrounds?
Gicharu's achievement catapults him to the category of one of the world's greatest men!
Absolute determination, vigor, vitality and a desire to do things differently are the defining traits of Gicharu,the man who built one of Kenya´s first privately-owned universities figuratively from scratch.
Many people eventually give up once they realize things are not going according to plan.
But Gicharu,simply adjusted his original plan.
He is a shining example of genuine success.
At young 44 years, the businessman has carved an enviable niche in educational circles by establishing a university that focuses mainly on science and technology, areas others have regarded apathetically.
In the process, he has built a venture that he now estimates is worth K Shs. 3 billion, having started with only K Shs. 100,000 as seed capital.
For Gicharu, the task of establishing Mount Kenya University has been Herculean and challenging.
The university´s humble beginnings can be traced to 1996 when Gicharu opened a simple college that offered computer training to 10 students in Thika town.
At that time, Gicharu had teamed up with the Thika-based African Inter Christian Church and School (AICCS) in an initiative to empower local youth with information technology skills.
But there was a problem: most of the places they wanted to establish operations in lacked power, a sheer prerequisite to running computers. Not to forget, computer use was low at the time.
The visionary and focused entrepreneur, born and brought up in Kiambu-Central Kenya, immediately abandoned the project and started a commercial college offering computer and other business-related courses in a commercial building in the town.
However, it dawned on him immediately that he would not be able to make ends meet.
"This meant that I had to change tact immediately. I did business re engineering and in the final analysis, conceived the idea of starting a college offering technical courses,´´ Gicharu recounts.
The business re engineering gave birth to Thika Institute of Management and Technology (TIMT) in the year 2000 which, to his surprise, instantly bore fruits.
He had ventured into an area many entrepreneurs had not dared tread.
Nine years down the line, the institute has grown to become Mount Kenya University. Wonders will never cease!
"Most technical courses were being offered by government institutions, but these could not satisfy the huge demand. School leavers had limited options after completion of their form four studies since they could not all be absorbed in the few universities existing at the time,´´ he states enthusiastically.
Why then did he venture into technical courses without a scientific background? Journalists are quick to ask him.
Gicharu, who trained as a teacher, and is a postgraduate in entrepreneurial management from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, believes that an entrepreneur uses his skills to manage others to make money for him.
Besides, he had acquired entrepreneurial experience from his five-year stint as a consultant in enterprise development between 1990 and 1995.
According to him, the experience was valuable as it enabled him manage the new enterprise notwithstanding the fact that he had no training in technical courses like medicine and pharmacy.
News of a technical institute offering pharmacy and medical courses spread like gushes of water down a rock and within no time, the institution could not cope with the high number of inquiries.
This called for immediate expansion of learning facilities and Gicharu says, he saw the urgent need to expand.The opportunity to set up something big came knocking and he stubbornly clung to it.
In 2000, and armed with K Shs.100,000, Gicharu approached Equity bank- an indigenous institution owned by Kenyans, and used his vehicle as a security to secure a K Shs. 300,000 loan.
He used the money to both purchase 3 acres of land where the university is currently located, and develop some training facilities.
He has never looked back since.
For the last eight years, he says, he has been able to access a total of 15 loans totaling K Shs. 300 million from different banks. The highest loan he took was Kshs. 100 million.
With the money, he has been able to increase the institutions land from 3 acres to 125 acres. The university has invested heavily in laboratories and other testing physical facilities. It already has an ultra modern library and other teaching facilities.
He also says that fees paid by students have also played a big role in enabling the institution grow.
The institution generates between K Shs. 150 million and K Shs 300 million annually.
From a handful of students at the beginning, the student population currently stands at 4,000 and this figure is projected to double in the next two years.
Why start a university in a town like Thika? (For the world readers,Thika is located in Central Kenya).
Gicharu says that while studying at Cranfield University, he came across lots of Kenyans living in deplorable conditions while pursuing higher education in foreign countries.
Those days, only public universities were offering degree courses and Kenyans pursuing higher education, were looking for opportunities in India, United States, and Britain.
And while there, they were forced to take care of their accommodation, food and other basic needs which forced them to engage in temporary work to meet their needs.
The question of whether education services could only be offered by the government, the church and rich investors, kept disturbing his mind while as a lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT).
He was convinced that an individual with a strong will and drive could establish and own a learning institution.
"Although it is not easy to establish a learning institution in this country, I have successfully done it. I am a living testimony that this can be done,´´ he says brimming with confidence and satisfaction.
But Gicharu is quick to add that the success did not come on a silver platter. He says one has to be focused and consistent in what he or she is doing.
He notes that a common mistake most entrepreneurs do make is venturing into so many lines of business that they cannot tell which one is making profit and which is not. In the process, one can end up putting money in the wrong place.
Entrepreneurs of Asian origin, Gicharu asserts, are an inspiration to him because when they venture into a particular line of business, they do not deviate to other areas but will do that business the rest of their life.
He lives by a simple philosophy: "there are no small or large enterprises: it is the management style that matters".
Gicharu, who holds a bachelors degree in Education from Kenyatta University, is such an inspiration that one feels the sky is the limit. He is planning to spend Kshs. 2 billion in the next five years to expand the university.
His dream is to make the university the most sought- after learning institution in the East African region offering both diploma and degree program mes in medicine, medical laboratory science, medical engineering, clinical medicine, business information technology, and business management among others.
Currently, Mount Kenya University has campuses in Naiorbi, Nakuru and Mombasa.
It has a marketing agency in Kakamega to serve Western Kenya. It is also collaborating with the African Institute of Technology in Eldoret, to provide medical courses.
The university has signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda´s prestigious Makerere, one of Africa´s oldest universities.
The agreement will allow sharing of training and research facilities especially for scientific program mes.
In the last few decades, Uganda has become a major educational destination for Kenyan students seeking higher education with over 20,000 estimated to be in the neighboring country at the moment.
"Actually, a much larger number of Kenyans crave to join Makerere program mes but this is made difficult by the simple fact that learning away from home becomes more expensive when one puts into consideration travel and accommodation expenses,´´ says Gicharu.
The university has also entered into a similar arrangement with the Thika District hospital to ensure students taking a bachelors degree in pharmacy get practical experience at the facility.
" This is the philosophy on which our pharmaceutical training is based. That is why we have entered into partnership with the hospital to allow us to use it as a teaching facility´´, the scholar further states.
FIVE STAR HOTEL
The university has also initiated a partnership with the Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC), which provides undergraduate program mes in hotel and tourism management.
This means students from neighboring countries, such as Burundi, DRC and Uganda, can access courses at the university. To that effect, the university has plans to establish a 5-star hotel in Thika town which will also be used for training purposes by students taking hospitality courses.
As with any business, there are challenges.
The entrepreneur indicates that one of the biggest challenges is that the cost of university education is very high, and in the prevailing economic situation very few people can afford. He explains that on average, tuition fees for medical degree courses are over Kshs. 100,000 in the minimum to a maximum of Kshs. 300,000 per year.
"Considering that most middle income families earn Kshs 20,000 per month, many Kenyans cannot afford to pay because they come from very humble backgrounds,´´ Gicharu regrets.
Hiring qualified staff to teach medical program mes is another major challenge since most of them have left the country to look for greener pastures abroad, he explains.
The capital investment in science and technology program mes such as medicine, pharmacy, medical engineering, medical laboratory and applied sciences, to mention but a few areas of interest to the university, is very heavy.
Gicharu goes on to explain that textbooks and training equipment are not cheap or easily available.
For instance, most if not all, critical books are not locally authored and published. The implication is that foreign published books are extremely expensive. Some core textbooks are extremely expensive.
Some core textbooks in pharmacy cost K Shs. 100,000 and they are only found in the US. The books are not only expensive but also time- consuming to source and ship.
"Many of the academicians in our institutions of higher learning are authoring primary school text books owing to the fact that they are sure of benefiting financially. They have shied away from publishing university books because very few researches and students will buy them,´´ the scholar further explains.
Lack of government incentives especially to private institutions is also another challenge the university management faces.
He appeals to the government to provide incentives to make it easy for investors to venture into the educational industry.
"My appeal is that the government should provide incentives to university scholars to author cheaper but relevant books for the higher education sector especially in areas of science and technology,´´ he says.
Other incentives could be directed towards land. Those intending to invest in rural areas should be given free land or subsidized cost of construction materials and equipment.
Overall, he says, the future of the university is bright.
The catalyst for its growth, he reckons, is goodwill and support from stakeholders as well as sound national policies on higher education. Gicharu believes calculated risks must be taken in life.
"It is through risk-taking that we are able to see and explore the opportunities on the other side of the river.´´
He also believes bank loans are vital for business.
"What bank loans do is to enable the entrepreneur to achieve his dream in advance. Without a loan, an entrepreneur could still grow but at a slow pace and in the process possibly lose business,"Gicharu adds.
Before taking a loan from a financial institution, he advises, one must first of all look into the viability of the business, financial projections and needs assessment, among other factors. And one must repay the loans in time.
Gicharu, who is the chairman of the Mount Kenya University, refutes rumors that Equity bank, a major financier of the university, has a stake in the institution, saying what solely exists is a banker-customer relationship only.
He says he does not even have a share in the university.
"A university is not classified as a business enterprise in Kenya. It is managed by a board of trustees to provide for a country´s human resources development. There are no shareholders and I do not hold any stake in this institution,´´ he says.
His role models are US President Barrack Obama and ex-South African president, Nelson Mandela, "because they went against the grain and stood by what they believed in ; one to lead the most powerful country in the world, and the other Africa´s largest economy".
Copy-and-paste, he warns, is what holds back development in countries like Kenya.
"There is no harm in working in the opposite direction as long as you believe in what you are doing´´, Gicharu stresses.
The astute entrepreneur spends his free time at the gym, playing squash or table tennis, although he admits that due to his busy schedule he has very limited time for recreation.
Being a mathematician, he likes reading calculus books and in fact, he has written a book entitled, "Applied Mathematics For Craft Engineering", that is used and read in many tertiary technical institutions.
Gicharu also does have a passion for reading motivational books as they offer him insights into how one can succeed and overcome life´s challenges.
The knowledgeable entrepreneur has just finished reading Barrack Obama´s inspiring book "The Audacity of Hope" which, he notes with appreciation, is enabling him draw parallels between him and Obama.
The wise businessman-cum-scholar has a strong belief in empowering the youth emphasizing that they should be helped to exploit their potential.
But the youth, he warns, should discard the notion that they are the future leaders.
He contends that tomorrow might never come.
"Even if the youth will not succeed in becoming political leaders, they can be leaders in the economic front where there are many opportunities that have not been exploited,´´ Gicharu states with finality.
SIMON GICHARU-an intensely intelligent and wise scholar from Kenya,is among the most outstanding stars of the moment Africa has ever produced.
HE is a great thinker and firm believer in what he aspires to achieve.
Failure is not within his domain or vocabulary.
By and large,Gicharu is an achiever and go-getter.
He can think from the largest to the smallest of particles, and conceive an idea that can leave many dumbfounded.
That is how he came up with the noble idea of building the Mount Kenya University.
Gicharu is also a generous contributor to educational projects and programs.
He is known and respected in various circles due to his commitment in educational development.
His most recent and visible public appearance was at the Nkuene Girl's secondary school,Imenti South,Central Kenya,where he donated Ksh 100,000 to wild applause and feet-thumping from the huge crowd.
Among those at the function were Kenya's minister of Energy Kiraitu Murungi, and retired President Daniel arap Moi.
Back to Gicharu,his burning ambition is to make Kenya and Africa a success story in so far as educational progress is concerned.
For Kenya and Africa to scale giddy heights in education is his desire.
But how many people in the world have started a University even with all the support,let alone from humble backgrounds?
Gicharu's achievement catapults him to the category of one of the world's greatest men!
Absolute determination, vigor, vitality and a desire to do things differently are the defining traits of Gicharu,the man who built one of Kenya´s first privately-owned universities figuratively from scratch.
Many people eventually give up once they realize things are not going according to plan.
But Gicharu,simply adjusted his original plan.
He is a shining example of genuine success.
At young 44 years, the businessman has carved an enviable niche in educational circles by establishing a university that focuses mainly on science and technology, areas others have regarded apathetically.
In the process, he has built a venture that he now estimates is worth K Shs. 3 billion, having started with only K Shs. 100,000 as seed capital.
For Gicharu, the task of establishing Mount Kenya University has been Herculean and challenging.
The university´s humble beginnings can be traced to 1996 when Gicharu opened a simple college that offered computer training to 10 students in Thika town.
At that time, Gicharu had teamed up with the Thika-based African Inter Christian Church and School (AICCS) in an initiative to empower local youth with information technology skills.
But there was a problem: most of the places they wanted to establish operations in lacked power, a sheer prerequisite to running computers. Not to forget, computer use was low at the time.
The visionary and focused entrepreneur, born and brought up in Kiambu-Central Kenya, immediately abandoned the project and started a commercial college offering computer and other business-related courses in a commercial building in the town.
However, it dawned on him immediately that he would not be able to make ends meet.
"This meant that I had to change tact immediately. I did business re engineering and in the final analysis, conceived the idea of starting a college offering technical courses,´´ Gicharu recounts.
The business re engineering gave birth to Thika Institute of Management and Technology (TIMT) in the year 2000 which, to his surprise, instantly bore fruits.
He had ventured into an area many entrepreneurs had not dared tread.
Nine years down the line, the institute has grown to become Mount Kenya University. Wonders will never cease!
"Most technical courses were being offered by government institutions, but these could not satisfy the huge demand. School leavers had limited options after completion of their form four studies since they could not all be absorbed in the few universities existing at the time,´´ he states enthusiastically.
Why then did he venture into technical courses without a scientific background? Journalists are quick to ask him.
Gicharu, who trained as a teacher, and is a postgraduate in entrepreneurial management from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, believes that an entrepreneur uses his skills to manage others to make money for him.
Besides, he had acquired entrepreneurial experience from his five-year stint as a consultant in enterprise development between 1990 and 1995.
According to him, the experience was valuable as it enabled him manage the new enterprise notwithstanding the fact that he had no training in technical courses like medicine and pharmacy.
News of a technical institute offering pharmacy and medical courses spread like gushes of water down a rock and within no time, the institution could not cope with the high number of inquiries.
This called for immediate expansion of learning facilities and Gicharu says, he saw the urgent need to expand.The opportunity to set up something big came knocking and he stubbornly clung to it.
In 2000, and armed with K Shs.100,000, Gicharu approached Equity bank- an indigenous institution owned by Kenyans, and used his vehicle as a security to secure a K Shs. 300,000 loan.
He used the money to both purchase 3 acres of land where the university is currently located, and develop some training facilities.
He has never looked back since.
For the last eight years, he says, he has been able to access a total of 15 loans totaling K Shs. 300 million from different banks. The highest loan he took was Kshs. 100 million.
With the money, he has been able to increase the institutions land from 3 acres to 125 acres. The university has invested heavily in laboratories and other testing physical facilities. It already has an ultra modern library and other teaching facilities.
He also says that fees paid by students have also played a big role in enabling the institution grow.
The institution generates between K Shs. 150 million and K Shs 300 million annually.
From a handful of students at the beginning, the student population currently stands at 4,000 and this figure is projected to double in the next two years.
Why start a university in a town like Thika? (For the world readers,Thika is located in Central Kenya).
Gicharu says that while studying at Cranfield University, he came across lots of Kenyans living in deplorable conditions while pursuing higher education in foreign countries.
Those days, only public universities were offering degree courses and Kenyans pursuing higher education, were looking for opportunities in India, United States, and Britain.
And while there, they were forced to take care of their accommodation, food and other basic needs which forced them to engage in temporary work to meet their needs.
The question of whether education services could only be offered by the government, the church and rich investors, kept disturbing his mind while as a lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT).
He was convinced that an individual with a strong will and drive could establish and own a learning institution.
"Although it is not easy to establish a learning institution in this country, I have successfully done it. I am a living testimony that this can be done,´´ he says brimming with confidence and satisfaction.
But Gicharu is quick to add that the success did not come on a silver platter. He says one has to be focused and consistent in what he or she is doing.
He notes that a common mistake most entrepreneurs do make is venturing into so many lines of business that they cannot tell which one is making profit and which is not. In the process, one can end up putting money in the wrong place.
Entrepreneurs of Asian origin, Gicharu asserts, are an inspiration to him because when they venture into a particular line of business, they do not deviate to other areas but will do that business the rest of their life.
He lives by a simple philosophy: "there are no small or large enterprises: it is the management style that matters".
Gicharu, who holds a bachelors degree in Education from Kenyatta University, is such an inspiration that one feels the sky is the limit. He is planning to spend Kshs. 2 billion in the next five years to expand the university.
His dream is to make the university the most sought- after learning institution in the East African region offering both diploma and degree program mes in medicine, medical laboratory science, medical engineering, clinical medicine, business information technology, and business management among others.
Currently, Mount Kenya University has campuses in Naiorbi, Nakuru and Mombasa.
It has a marketing agency in Kakamega to serve Western Kenya. It is also collaborating with the African Institute of Technology in Eldoret, to provide medical courses.
The university has signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda´s prestigious Makerere, one of Africa´s oldest universities.
The agreement will allow sharing of training and research facilities especially for scientific program mes.
In the last few decades, Uganda has become a major educational destination for Kenyan students seeking higher education with over 20,000 estimated to be in the neighboring country at the moment.
"Actually, a much larger number of Kenyans crave to join Makerere program mes but this is made difficult by the simple fact that learning away from home becomes more expensive when one puts into consideration travel and accommodation expenses,´´ says Gicharu.
The university has also entered into a similar arrangement with the Thika District hospital to ensure students taking a bachelors degree in pharmacy get practical experience at the facility.
" This is the philosophy on which our pharmaceutical training is based. That is why we have entered into partnership with the hospital to allow us to use it as a teaching facility´´, the scholar further states.
FIVE STAR HOTEL
The university has also initiated a partnership with the Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC), which provides undergraduate program mes in hotel and tourism management.
This means students from neighboring countries, such as Burundi, DRC and Uganda, can access courses at the university. To that effect, the university has plans to establish a 5-star hotel in Thika town which will also be used for training purposes by students taking hospitality courses.
As with any business, there are challenges.
The entrepreneur indicates that one of the biggest challenges is that the cost of university education is very high, and in the prevailing economic situation very few people can afford. He explains that on average, tuition fees for medical degree courses are over Kshs. 100,000 in the minimum to a maximum of Kshs. 300,000 per year.
"Considering that most middle income families earn Kshs 20,000 per month, many Kenyans cannot afford to pay because they come from very humble backgrounds,´´ Gicharu regrets.
Hiring qualified staff to teach medical program mes is another major challenge since most of them have left the country to look for greener pastures abroad, he explains.
The capital investment in science and technology program mes such as medicine, pharmacy, medical engineering, medical laboratory and applied sciences, to mention but a few areas of interest to the university, is very heavy.
Gicharu goes on to explain that textbooks and training equipment are not cheap or easily available.
For instance, most if not all, critical books are not locally authored and published. The implication is that foreign published books are extremely expensive. Some core textbooks are extremely expensive.
Some core textbooks in pharmacy cost K Shs. 100,000 and they are only found in the US. The books are not only expensive but also time- consuming to source and ship.
"Many of the academicians in our institutions of higher learning are authoring primary school text books owing to the fact that they are sure of benefiting financially. They have shied away from publishing university books because very few researches and students will buy them,´´ the scholar further explains.
Lack of government incentives especially to private institutions is also another challenge the university management faces.
He appeals to the government to provide incentives to make it easy for investors to venture into the educational industry.
"My appeal is that the government should provide incentives to university scholars to author cheaper but relevant books for the higher education sector especially in areas of science and technology,´´ he says.
Other incentives could be directed towards land. Those intending to invest in rural areas should be given free land or subsidized cost of construction materials and equipment.
Overall, he says, the future of the university is bright.
The catalyst for its growth, he reckons, is goodwill and support from stakeholders as well as sound national policies on higher education. Gicharu believes calculated risks must be taken in life.
"It is through risk-taking that we are able to see and explore the opportunities on the other side of the river.´´
He also believes bank loans are vital for business.
"What bank loans do is to enable the entrepreneur to achieve his dream in advance. Without a loan, an entrepreneur could still grow but at a slow pace and in the process possibly lose business,"Gicharu adds.
Before taking a loan from a financial institution, he advises, one must first of all look into the viability of the business, financial projections and needs assessment, among other factors. And one must repay the loans in time.
Gicharu, who is the chairman of the Mount Kenya University, refutes rumors that Equity bank, a major financier of the university, has a stake in the institution, saying what solely exists is a banker-customer relationship only.
He says he does not even have a share in the university.
"A university is not classified as a business enterprise in Kenya. It is managed by a board of trustees to provide for a country´s human resources development. There are no shareholders and I do not hold any stake in this institution,´´ he says.
His role models are US President Barrack Obama and ex-South African president, Nelson Mandela, "because they went against the grain and stood by what they believed in ; one to lead the most powerful country in the world, and the other Africa´s largest economy".
Copy-and-paste, he warns, is what holds back development in countries like Kenya.
"There is no harm in working in the opposite direction as long as you believe in what you are doing´´, Gicharu stresses.
The astute entrepreneur spends his free time at the gym, playing squash or table tennis, although he admits that due to his busy schedule he has very limited time for recreation.
Being a mathematician, he likes reading calculus books and in fact, he has written a book entitled, "Applied Mathematics For Craft Engineering", that is used and read in many tertiary technical institutions.
Gicharu also does have a passion for reading motivational books as they offer him insights into how one can succeed and overcome life´s challenges.
The knowledgeable entrepreneur has just finished reading Barrack Obama´s inspiring book "The Audacity of Hope" which, he notes with appreciation, is enabling him draw parallels between him and Obama.
The wise businessman-cum-scholar has a strong belief in empowering the youth emphasizing that they should be helped to exploit their potential.
But the youth, he warns, should discard the notion that they are the future leaders.
He contends that tomorrow might never come.
"Even if the youth will not succeed in becoming political leaders, they can be leaders in the economic front where there are many opportunities that have not been exploited,´´ Gicharu states with finality.
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