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MKU Partner With Bradford University To Embed Peace In African Universities.


Mount Kenya University in partnership with University of Bradford-UK will host an international conference on Peace and Security in near future that will bring together government officials, key policy makers, the academia and industry.

Speaking at MKU Thika Main Campus when he met MKU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stanley Waudo,  Head, Department of Peace Studies at University of Bradford Prof. David J. Francis said that the move will see the launch of the inaugural ‘Africa Universities Peace and Research Consortium’ as well as an International Journal of Peace and Social Enterprise.

“We shall use the conference to engage relevant officials from the Ministry of Education to develop a new framework for embedding peace studies in the national curriculum. The Peace and Research Consortium shall be a policy reservoir to advice on the link between peace, development, economic growth and other factors,” said Prof. Francis.

The two universities have agreed on a partnership, which will be formally signed during the conference.
 The two institutions have also agreed to work together on Staff capacity training/mentorship and exchange programmes. Prof. Francis said that besides MKU, University of Bradford is also eager to establish partnerships with other private and public universities in Africa.

“Lack of information on available opportunities has been a hindrance to African academics but this relationship opens a treasure trove of information. Our staff, for instance, will now have information on Commonwealth scholarships available.” Professor David is a Commissioner for the UK Commonwealth Scholarship Commission,” said Prof. Waudo.

The partnership will also support the development of curricula in the areas of Peace and Security Studies starting with the Master of Science in Peace and Social Enterprise.
MKU offers a variety of programmes in peace and security studies through its Institute of Security Studies, Justice and Ethics. University of Bradford’s Department of Peace Studies, which Prof. Francis heads, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

Last week, the University of Bradford co-hosted a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with an aim of establishing peace studies in mainstream education throughout the African continent. University of Bradford has partnered with 37 universities in Ethiopia.

In Kenya, the Ministry of Education has taken several steps in integrating training on peace and security in the national curriculum. Some of these steps include the establishment of guidelines, and the ongoing review of the 8-4-4 curriculum. 

Global Education for Peace in Africa, Prof. David said, will have a major impact on policy and practice throughout Africa.

Among the high profile delegates were Joyce Muchemi, Director of MKU’s Institute of Security Studies, Justice and Ethics.

Meanwhile, four MKU students are in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the 8th edition of the Federation of Africa University Sports (FASU).

Sylvester Nakeel, Peter Mwai, Mathew Rapando and Charles Wanjiru are representing the university in the seven-day event (June 26-July 2) hosted by the University Sports South Africa at the University of Johannesburg and the Tshwane University of Technology. The four are participating in athletics. Other competitive disciplines in the FASU games are badminton, basketball, chess, football, volleyball, netball, table tennis and tennis.

Last week, the MKU team received sh. 600,000 sponsorship from MKU Chairman Dr. Simon Gicharu to facilitate their participation in the games.

“We shall pull out all the stops to ensure we continuously mould all-rounded students,” said Dr. Gicharu during the presentation of the dummy cheque at Thika Main Campus. “MKU is a place for holistic talent development.”

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