By Kurgat Marindany
Kajiado County commissioner David Kipkemei has appealed to private universities in the region to extend their corporate social responsibility to include offering of scholarships to Maasai girls.
Kipkemei made the call during the Umma University first graduation ceremony held at its Kajiado campus.
He said while the Government supports integration among the various institutions of higher learning, it also encourages those institutions to have strong links with the communities around their establishments.
“I am appealing to this institution to extend its CSR to include offer for scholarship to Maasai girl-child. We are living in a competitive country, and the girl-child is threatened educationally,” said the County Commissioner.
He also appealed to the local Maasai community to support education for their girls, saying that long gone are the days when girls were prepared for marriage at a tender age.
“It should dawn on you that in the years to come, no man will accept to marry an uneducated wife. Because of changing lifestyles, no educated woman will also accept to be married by a man who never went to school,” said the Commissioner.
Speaking during the same occasion, Governor Joseph ole Lenku praised the university’s leadership for the central role it plays in the education sector.
He challenged the university to embrace research and partner with the county government in areas of poverty alleviation in the region.
He said his government has already put in place frameworks aimed at improving provision of water to the local communities, upgrading of livestock and to improve food security.
The ceremony was also attended by the Leader of Majority in Parliament, Aden Duale, who heaped praises on Lenku.
“I am proud to announce to you today that your Governor is our Jubilee marksman in this county. We believe in him all the time. Thank you for giving us a leader we trust,” said Duale amid ululation from Kajiado students in attendance.
