University Chancellor Prof Bethwell Ogot said the Odera Akang’o Campus would boost access to higher education and extend research to local communities.

Prof Ogot said the campus would invest in agricultural research to revive cotton farming in Nyanza.

The campus is named after the late Senior Chief Odera Akang’o who is credited with pioneering formal education in Siaya.

“Time has come for institutions of higher learning to move from fountains of knowledge to drivers of economic development,” said the Chancellor.

He went on: “The country is losing resources by locking out thousands of students who qualify to join public universities annually for lack of bed space.”

He said 60,000 students complete high school in Nyanza every year, while public varsities admitted slightly more than 10,000 nationally.

“Nyanza has the capacity to supply students to five public universities yearly, but has only Maseno University on its soil,” Ogot said.

The minimum university entry grade is C+ in KCSE. The new campus, Ogot said, will admit the first 200 students next month.

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