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HomeEDUCATIONKoitalel Samoei University Land Dispute Resolved, Construction To Resume

Koitalel Samoei University Land Dispute Resolved, Construction To Resume

Koitalel Samoei University Land Dispute Resolved, Construction To Resume

Koitalel Samoei University Land Dispute Resolved, Construction To Resume

A land dispute that had stalled the construction of the multimillion-dollar Koitalel Samoei University College in Nandi County has been resolved, and construction is expected to resume once the national government allocates funds for the project.

The university has been given 100 acres at Koitalel Samoei Secondary School in Nandi Hills, where the main campus is being built.

A further 50 acres have been set aside for the project at Mosoriot Teachers Training College, where the university is currently based.

Prof Risely Kavu Ngala, the university’s chairman, announced that Prof Winston Akala would take over as principal and Prof Rose Korir would serve as his deputy.

Prof Ngala expressed confidence that the new team led by the two will address the college’s challenges and will collaborate with the local community to address student housing issues.

Prof Jackson Too, the former acting principal, has returned to the Commission for University Education (CUE).

He spent several years at Moi University before joining Koitalel Samoei. Prof Gideon Misoi, the founding principal, retired and returned to the University of Nairobi.

The new principal, Prof Akala, explained that the university was facing challenges, such as accommodating new students.

He stated that the university has changed course in order to achieve its goals.

He urged the local community and investors to build hostels near the school, noting that the project would create business opportunities in the towns of Mosoriot and Nandi Hills.

He stated that financial challenges confronting Kenyan public universities had delayed construction at the main campus, but that work would resume once land issues were resolved.

Accommodation issues
Prof Akala and Prof Korir explained that the university currently has over 700 students, with 433 more expected by September 2022.

They urged residents near the university to build hostels and decent housing for university staff, the majority of whom are based in Eldoret and Kapsabet due to a housing shortage.

When fully operational, the university will have a campus at Kaimosi Farmers Training College, where it will run an agricultural school.

There are also plans to establish a law school on the main campus in Nandi Hills in honor of the great Nandi laibon, who was assassinated by the colonial government in 1905 during the Nandi Resistance against the British regime.

Since 2020, Nandi County leaders and professionals have petitioned the National Treasury for funding for the Koitalel Samoei project.

During the 2017 election campaign, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto laid the foundation stone for Samoei Secondary School and announced that the university would be finished in two years. However, work was halted due to unresolved land issues.

Nandi MPs led by Julius Meli (Tindiret), Vicenti Tuwei (Mosop), Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Alex Kosgey (Emgwen), Cornelius Serem (Aldai), and Tecla Tum (woman rep), as well as Senator Samson Cherargei, have been lobbying the national government to provide adequate funding for infrastructure development at the college.

Yulta Mitei, Deputy Governor of Nandi, stated that the county is committed to assisting the university in its efforts to establish a sports academy.

“The interests of the Nandi community are a top priority and political differences will not be allowed to derail the university as leaders want the national government to provide funds the first ever public university in Nandi,” he said.

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Prof Misoi, the first Koitalel Samoei principal, previously stated that the main university college would be established at Samoei High School in Nandi Hills, with Mosoriot TTC hosting the school of education and business.

He stated that the university would have six locations in Nandi County.

The university was established during the administration of former Nandi Governor Cleophas Lagat, who was defeated in the 2017 elections by current Governor Stephen Sang.

Koitalel Samoei University Land Dispute Resolved, Construction To Resume

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