Business Daily (Nairobi)
Kui Kinyanjui
10 July 2009
A tussle between two ministries over the ownership of assets worth billions of shillings belonging to recently upgraded MultiMedia University (MMU) has deepened, threatening to scuttle learning for thousands of students.
If not resolved, the row between the Ministry of Information and its Higher Education counterpart could see the institution pulled into a spat over Sh2.4 billion in assets attached to the newly formed institution.
"We raised the bar by turning the Kenya College of Communication Technology into MMU. Little did we know that we were jeopardising its assets. This is a situation that needs to be looked at realistically," said Samuel Poghisio, Minister of Information.
Mr Poghisio said that the moment the institution changed its status to become a university, the Information ministry lost the mandate to control and run the institution, as well as losing access to its assets.
Handed overMMU now falls under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education, a move that the Information ministry fears may scuttle its plans for the school.
At stake is extensive holdings in land and buildings attached to the institution which recently made the transition to a university.
In the Information, Communication and Technology industries, MMU has a legacy as being the longest existing trainer of the country's telecommunications workforce.
For over 60 years, it has provided instruction to most of Kenya's ICT workforce having educated the majority of locally trained electrical and electronic engineers.
In 2006, it was handed over to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) by Telkom Kenya, as part of a barter agreement for payment of the telecommunications company's debt to the industry regulator.
Before the transaction, Telkom Kenya owed CCK Sh22 billion in arrears for outstanding licensing fees.
Upon its inheritance, CCK was tasked with expanding the scope of the institution both locally and regionally, and with transforming the educational facility into a centre where the country could train future Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) agents.
BPO is one of the key pillars of the country's economic blueprint, Vision 2030, and Kenya hopes to break into the $200 million industry to boost its economic prospects.MMU offers training in most ICT subjects, including BPO training.
Kenya's profile as an technology services destination is improving, with revenues generated from various sectors in the ICT sector rising.
"Riverwood (River Road) movies made this country Sh600 million last year. The animation industry brought in Sh500 million in the same period.
It is imperative that we have places of higher learning where students can hone their skills in this area," said Bitange Ndemo, Information PS.
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