By Arnold Ageta
West Mugirango MP Stephen Mogaka today withdrew a case he had filed challenging Kiabonyoru as the site for the proposed Nyamira University.
Mr. Mogaka, while filing the notice of withdrawal at the Nyamira High Court, asked Kisii University to reopen its campus to admit students from the county.
“We are here to withdraw the case and ask those who have been saying that I have been the stumbling block for the Nyamira University to start its construction to begin as soon as possible,” he said.
“Take note that the petitioners herein wish to withdraw all the applications and the suit dated 20th August 2024 in their entirety against the respondents, with no orders as to costs,” read the notice.
He claims that the Nyamira Campus was closed by Kisii University under unknown circumstances.
“When I asked the President at Sironga to give us a fully-fledged university in Nyamira, he agreed. The university I requested to establish a presence was Kisii University,” he said.
Mogaka insisted that the University of Eldoret was already established at Kiabonyoru with KES 100 million in funding from the Nyamira County Government.
He wondered why the proposed Nyamira University would be established on a site already occupied by another university.
“Some politicians from the county politicized the issue, saying the proposed Nyamira University in Nyamira town, under Kisii University, should be established at Kiabonyoru, thwarting the county’s efforts to have two universities,” he said.
He said that this was the main reason he filed the case: to settle the issue and ensure Nyamira town has a university to help the town grow.
“Now that some politicians have started blaming me and the people of West Mugirango for the delayed opening of the university at Kiabonyoru, I have withdrawn the case,” he announced.
He said that establishing a university in Nyamira County is more important than politics, and that education matters should not be politicized.
“As a Christian and the MP for West Mugirango, I cannot hinder the establishment of a university in Nyamira,” he asserted. “Are we asking too much when we ask the government to resume studies at the Kisii University campus in Nyamira town, as it operated before?”
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He further asked the Kisii University Vice Chancellor to allow Nyamira Hospital to be used as a teaching facility for health sciences.
“We, as the people of West Mugirango, welcome Kisii University to use the hospital to teach medical students here in Nyamira,” he requested.
He assured the people of West Mugirango that they would look for alternative means to establish a university in Nyamira town.
The withdrawal of the case now shifts the responsibility to North Mugirango MP Joash Nyamoko to ensure the university is established as soon as possible.
