By Roy Hezron
Renowned Scientist Dr. Richard Leakey has urged Kenya government to appreciate the role of Science, Technology and innovation (STI) in national development.
In a meeting he held with Prof Walter Oyawa, Director General of National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation NACOSTI, Dr. Leakey pointed out that African continent lacks competitive research universities.
Dr. Leakey observed that inadequate facilities and funding, hinders leading scholars in the continent in maintaining scientific programme of excellence proposing a series of alliances between African and non-African universities starting with the world’s leading organizations for research universities to address the problem for mutual benefit.
Dr. Leakey further stated that evolution of life is a fact and observed that every single past and living human being share a common ancestor, acknowledging that Kenya was very strategic and holds a unique place globally that can unravel the origin of human species.
He together with other partners is set to establish Ngaren Museum in Rift Valley, which is scheduled to start in 2024 and end in 2026. The museum will have the capacity to host over 1 million visitors annually.
When the project will be completed, Ngaren will have the only all-digital Planetarium in Africa be the only African museum to display real-size dinosaurs create, teach and promote science, sustainability, imagination and equality and further inform, inspire and empower researchers.
Among the team of researchers who participated in the bilateral meeting were Dr. Stephen Karimi Director of Research Accreditation and Quality Assurance and Mr. Boniface Wanyama – Deputy Director for Registration, Accreditation and Quality Assurance.
The USA team comprised of Lawrence Martin and Prof Nengo, working for Turkana Basin Institute, a research institution in Kenya supporting scientific projects in human pre-history, sustainability, climate change and modern human culture and diversity.
Prof. Oyawa briefed the team on the role of NACOSTI in regulation, quality assurance and advisory on matters of STI. He stressed that the Science, Technology and innovation Act had assigned NACOSTI seventeen (17) functions which could be summarized as: regulation, advisory, promotion and coordination of STI.
He stated that NACOSTI is on a mission to strengthen research in the institutions and universities. National research priorities for 2018-2023 are now being operationalized through establishment of a National Steering Committee Chaired by the Principal Secretary for the State Department of University Education and Research Simon Nabukwesi.
Other initiatives of strengthening research in universities will be through establishment of University research chairs in strategic areas taking cognizance of the success of the two university research chairs in health system and technology innovation in manufacturing being implemented at the Moi University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Richard Leakey was born in Nairobi, Kenya on December 19, 1944 to Louis and Mary Leakey. He left high school at 17 and established a successful photographic safari company. At this time he showed little interest in following in the pale anthropological footsteps of parents.
His career at the National Museum of Kenya ended when the then President Daniel Arap Moi appointed him as Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). His mandate was to bring to an end the rampant elephant poaching that had decimated herds throughout Kenya. Poaching had also reduced tourism, an important source of foreign exchange for Kenya. He is a founder of Turkana Basin Institute.
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