Bonface Ngashira, one of the stakeholders, said Mumias could have both a university and a thriving sugar industry if the institution were built at the Triangle. He said the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had laid a foundation stone there for a university and credited former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya with improving road access to the area.
“Why should we interfere with Mumias Sugar’s operations when we have Mumias Triangle?” Ngashira said.
He said local lobby groups had advocated for a university at the Triangle for years. In 2022, Oparanya also identified land at the Triangle as a possible site for affordable housing. Stakeholders want the government to clarify land ownership and resolve outstanding development issues before settling on a university site.
Lessons from the former MMUST campus
Mumias previously hosted a satellite campus of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST). The university closed its Mumias, Kisumu, Kapsabet and Nairobi campuses at the end of December 2020. In January 2021, it directed affected students to report to the main campus in Kakamega for placement.
Stakeholders say the closure highlights the need to plan for student enrolment and supporting infrastructure before opening another university in Mumias.
Calls to protect the factory’s recovery
Stakeholders say the nucleus estate is important to the factory’s operations as it works to recover from years of disruption. They want the government to protect the estate, invest in cane production and improve farmers’ earnings.
Another stakeholder credited operations and administration manager Stephen Kihumba with helping restore farmers’ confidence in the factory and called for its operations to be shielded from political interference.
For families who rely on the sugar industry, earnings from cane farming, factory work, transport and trade help pay school fees and meet household expenses. Stakeholders say building the university at the Triangle would expand local study opportunities while protecting those livelihoods.
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