By Mutuku Fred
KMTC Board Chairman Prof. Philip Kaloki on Monday 8th July 2019 led a team from the College to Makueni County to assess the preparedness of KMTC Mbooni to start admitting students in September 2019.
H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta in December 2016 laid a foundation stone that paved way for the official construction of the Mbooni Campus. The Campus has been built at a cost of Kshs 79 million from the Mbooni National Government – Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) kitty.
“The KMTC Board of Directors will approve commencement of the Campus in September 2019.” Prof. Kaloki assured. He added that “The Campus will mount courses in Health Records and Information Technology, Community Health and Development, Health Project Planning and Management, Community Health Assistants and Community Health Extension Workers to begin with.”
He commended area Member of Parliament Hon. Erastus Kivasu for picking up from where his predecessor Hon. Kisii Munyao left and ensured that the dream of the people of Mbooni to have a KMTC Campus in the area is realized.
Prof. Kaloki further lauded the efforts of all stakeholders involved in the establishment and development of the Campus. He gave an assurance that an admissions desk officer would be posted to the Campus to help locals apply to join KMTC. “We are excited by what the community and the leadership of the area have done,” he added.
He also reported that the Board was working closely with the Makueni County Government to develop Campuses in the County. Furthermore, the Chairman noted that Mbooni Campus would spur economic growth of the area and support the provision of health care in the health facilities.
On his part, Hon. Kivas confirmed that he was committed to seeing the project come to fruition and would work closely with the KMTC Board to ensure the Campus grows into a fully-fledged institution, offering courses like Nursing and Clinical Medicine within the next three years.
CEO Prof. Michael Kiptoo affirmed that KMTC was mandated to produce a competent human resource for health towards Universal Health Coverage. In line with this, therefore, he noted, students who would be admitted to Mbooni Campus would form part of this.
Mbooni Campus was started as an initiative of the KMTC Board of Directors, former Member of Parliament Hon. Munyao Kisoi and the local community. Current M.P Hon. Erastus Kivasu has continued to support the development of the Campus.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Mr. Richard Musau expressed his excitement at the prospect of the Campus opening its doors to students in September. He promised that the community would continue to stand with and support the growth of the Campus.
The Campus, which currently sits on six acres of land, has facilities such as classrooms, hostels, an administration block, laboratory and dining hall. The Board Chairman said that KMTC would fully equip the Campus and purchase a brand new bus and double cabin to ease the movement of staff and students to clinical sites.
Board Director Mithamo Muchiri, Administration Manager Mr. David Ondeng, Principals Mr. Gabriel Manyara (Makueni), Dr. Sam Kabara (Manza) and Dr. Joseph Karanja (Machakos) attended the event. Others present were the KMTC Mbooni project management committee members, Mbooni NG-CDF committee members, community leaders, other area leaders and staff from KMTC Makueni Campus.
