The History of Moi University

In January 1981 a Presidential Working Party chaired by the distinguished Canadian academic, Dr. Colin B. Mackay, was convened to prepare detailed recommendations for a second university in Kenya and their report was presented to the then President, H. E. Hon. Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi in September 1981. The report strongly recommended that the new university should have a distinct bias towards technology.

In October 1983, a report titled “Project for the Second University” was prepared by a joint Kenyan and UNESCO team. As a result, Moi University was established by the Government in mid-1984 and building work on the site near Eldoret, commenced in the following year. The university Administration moved from its temporary offices in Eldoret to present main campus (Kesses), Uasin Gishu County on July 29, 1986.

The University was however officially inaugurated on December 6, 1985 by the then Chancellor, His Excellency the second President of Kenya, Hon. Daniel Toroitich. Arap Moi.

Since then, the University has experienced phenomenal growth from its initial one faculty in 1984, to a total of 15 Schools, nine Directorates and two Institutes presently.The total student population currently is over 52, 000, distributed across Diploma, Undergraduate, Masters, PostGraduate Diploma and Doctorate of Philosophy programmes in diverse fields.

The University had four (4) campuses, namely: Main Campus, Town Campus, Eldoret West Campus and Odera Akang’o Campus, and a total of three (3) Satellite Campuses in Nairobi, Kitale and Coast (Mombasa); but following the restructuring in the year 2021, the University presently has the following campuses: Main Campus, Eldoret Town campus, Nairobi Campus and Coast Campus. The Eldoret Town campus hosts the College of Health Sciences (near MTRH) and School of Law (at Annex), School of Tourism, Hospitality & Events Management (at Annex), School of Business & Economics (at Annex). Moi University had several constituent university colleges, namely Chepkoilel (presently University of Eldoret), Garissa, Rongo and Alupe that also offer unique undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, these have since become fully-fledged Universities. Presently, Moi University is proud to have one constituent University College namely Bomet University College (BUC).

Recently, the University restructured and now has 13 Schools, 3 Directorates, 4 Institutes and 3 Centres of Excellence.

1985

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