The newly appointed Chancellor of the University of Nairobi Professor Patrick Verkooijen has stated that President William Ruto selected him for the position because of his ability to mobilize financial resources.
In a media interview on Wednesday, January 31, Verkooijen stated that he is well positioned for the job because he is connected to and is from the global north where a lot of funding comes from.
According to him, he is the link required to help the cash-strapped university get the resources and partnerships needed from the global north and the president understood that.
Further, he stated that the government ought not to increase the university’s budget despite the financial challenges it was facing. The chancellor explained that the government was yet to recover from various crises and that the university could use its resources to source for partnerships.
“It is not smart to think that in a world where the government in Kenya and many parts of the world is still suffering to come out of the covid recovery, the climate crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Ukraine fallout.
“We as a university should think that overnight the government will double or triple its budget to the university. And it should not,” he stated.
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Verkooijen Details How He Plans on Saving UoN
Explaining how he plans on solving the problem, Verkooijen stated that he was a very practical and inspired individual who would use the greatest assets of the institution to secure partnerships abroad.
In addition, he noted that the greatest asset was the students, who he stated were creative, innovative and motivated.
“So why me? Why was I appointed? My value if any is being a transmission line between the great assets of the best university in the country and the world of finance. Bring the University of Nairobi to the world and at the same time bring the world to the University of Nairobi.
“I am not naive; I am very practical, and I am extremely inspired. The great assets of the university are the people. Is it true that the University of Nairobi is cash-constrained, yes. And it is not unique,” noted the chancellor.
Additionally, he revealed that since his appointment, he had already received several proposals from different investors who were interested in partnering in various ways.
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“Since I was appointed by the president, I have received lots of emails and direct messages from partners in the Global North saying that they are ready to partner. They say, ‘Come forward with your big and bold ideas, put them on the table,” added the Chancellor.
“If financial revenues are stagnant and the number of students is coming up, you can see that there is inherent pressure in the system where faculty is overwhelmed to support these students.
That is why my three key results indicators as chancellor are very simple, finance, finance, finance,” he explained.
Appointment by Ruto
President Ruto has appointed the environmentalist as the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi in a gazette notice published on January 12, 2024.
Verkooijen has been serving as the Chair of The Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies.
He was appointed to the role in September 2022 by the University of Nairobi, to chair the institute established in honour of the late Nobel Peace Laurette Prof. Wangari Mathai.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 38 (1) (a) of the Universities Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint — PATRICK V. VERKOOIJEN (PROF.) to be the Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, for a period of five (5) years, with effect from January 12, 2024,” Ruto directed.
