Former Makueni Governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana has challenged Kenyan universities to conduct research and come up with innovations that provide solutions to local problems at community level.
The Professor of Law while speaking at Chuka University during the Inaugural Research Conference in Humanities and Social Sciences noted that the conference was a great platform to contribute to the long-term intention of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), commending the university for developing international prestige through collaborations.
“I am happy to observe that the university is focusing on research to solve real problems and not just research that will be documented and kept at the library. When research is of high quality, it distinguishes the institution from others. This is a great direction by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and I ask other faculties in the university to emulate and follow suit”, he said.
In his speech, Prof. Kibwana highlighted the need to have students mentored in research to produce products which can be patented and commercialized.
Chuka University Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Henry Mutembei said the conference was looking at leveraging multidisciplinary research and innovations in areas of humanities and social sciences.
“This is a conference that will present findings and patents from various disciplines which is the glory and happiness of a university. It is though such research that universities can provide solutions to problems affecting the local community”, he said.
Dr. Christopher Kiboro who is the Dean in charge of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences said the conference had attracted participants from over 20 universities with over 14 sub themes that include Economic Planning and Resource Management for Sustainable Development, Education Systems and Reforms for Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Environment and Food Security, New Media and Information Technology for Sustainable Development, Law and Governance.
“It is an indication that the faculty is living up to its expectation. We want to assure that students in the faculty will be trained to become researchers and innovators and they will be able to create jobs for themselves. One way of eliminating poverty is empowering people to be creators of jobs”, he said.
The conference is under the theme “Leveraging multidisciplinary research and innovation in humanities and social sciences for sustainable development”
