Simon Gicharu
Dr. Simon N. Gicharu, CBS | |
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![]() Dr. Simon Gicharu, CBS | |
Born |
Simon Gicharu 1964 (age 53–54) Gathiruini, Kenya |
Nationality | Kenyan |
Alma mater |
Kenyatta University Managing Enterprise Development |
Occupation | Educationist, Entrepreneur |
Years active | 1993–present |
Home town | Nairobi |
Title |
Founder and Chairman, Board of Trustees Mount Kenya University |
Spouse(s) | 1 |
Dr. Simon Gicharu is an educationalist and founder of Mount Kenya University, which is East and Central Africa’s largest private university. He was born in 1964 in Gathiruini village, in Kiambu County, Kenya. He is the first in a family of seven. Dr. Gicharu is also the Chairman of the Rural Electrification Authority and National Private Universities Owners Association of Kenya. He is the founder of Equip Africa Institute and patron of the Graduate Enterprise Academy. He is also a board member at Thika Water and Sewerage Company, and the patron of Inter Universities Rover Moot under the Kenya Scouts Association. In 2015, Dr. Gicharu was named the Eastern African Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He is married with three children.
Early life and education
His early life experiences were the cauldron in which his successful characteristic traits were shaped. As a pupil at Kiawairia Primary School and later Gathiruini Secondary School, Gicharu had to walk many kilometres to and from school. His parents were peasant farmers and their small piece of land, which they tilled for subsistence, provided barely enough for their upkeep. To supplement the domestic income, Dr. Gicharu, alongside his siblings, picked coffee at large commercials farms where he was paid by the kilo.
At Murang’a High School where he undertook his O-Levels, he was the captain in his final year. While in school, he etched a reputation for entrepreneurial acumen, and for assisting fellow students in Mathematics, a subject he excelled in.
Mr Gicharu obtained a Bachelor of Education Science (Honours) degree from Kenyatta University in 1990. His majors were Mathematics and Chemistry. Soon after graduation, he continued to exercise his passion for education, teaching his favourite Maths subject at various secondary schools in Kenya, and later at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and at the Thika Technical Training Institute. He would also author Kenya’s first post-secondary school book on Mathematics, Applied Mathematics for Craft Engineering.[1]
Entrepreneurship
Dr. Gicharu has also previously worked as a lecturer at Thika Technical Training Institute. In 1995, he earned a British Council scholarship to study Managing Enterprise Development at Cranfield University, Britain. When he came back he established Kenya Entrepreneurship Promotion Programme (KEPP), which provided micro-loans and training to young entrepreneurs. His seed capital was only Ksh20,000 (US$220). KEPP later started offering training in computers and changed its name to Thika School of Management Studies (TSMS), with introduction of Management courses. Gradually, TSMS increased its student enrolment and the number of courses. The type of courses it offered was determined by the job demands of the day and with the explosion in use of information science and technology, TSMS changed its name to Thika Institute of Technology (TIT) in 2003.
That same year, Dr. Gicharu, resolved that Science training would be the backbone of TIT. He made a blind trip to India, on scanty information that at the Punjab State, they were assembling Science equipment in cottage industries that was relatively affordable. Dr. Gicharu immediately purchased the equipment. TIT was the first private college in Kenya to be accredited to offer the Diploma programme in Pharmacy.
In 2017, Gicharu was noted to have a keen interest in venturing into the media within Kenya, having already started a television and radio station in Rwanda. Gicharu and Tom Mshindi (Editor in Chief of Nation Media Group) hold controlling shares in 360 media[2] headed by former Nation Media Group reporter Samwell Born Maina. The firm was set up by Gicharu and team to “disrupt the media relations sector in Kenya, especially in an election year.” [3] Gicharu’s 360 Media has become linked to the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica developing online campaigns in the 2017 Kenyan elections portraying “Raila Odinga as a blood-thirsty individual who is also sympathetic to Al-Shabaab and having no development agenda,” whilst portraying the incumbent President Kenyatta as “tough on terrorism, and being good for the economy.”[4] Gicharu has recently gone on to self-fund TV47 and Beats 47 in Kenya, new television and radio stations, via his company Cape Media, headed by his son Kevin Gicharu.[5]
University
In 2008, the Institute was awarded a Letter of Interim Authority by the Commission for University Education in Kenya, to operate as an independent university under the name Mount Kenya University. The university was granted a full Charter status in 2011. At the age of 46 years, Dr. Gicharu became the youngest Kenyan to have established a chartered university. The only other indigenous Chartered university was started by the former President H.E Daniel Arap Moi. Mount Kenya University, with 16 Campuses and Centres in Kenya, Rwanda, Somaliland, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda employs over 3,000 people and has a student population of about 50,000. The University is a member of Inter-university Council of East Africa and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Awards
- "1st Class Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS)." The highest award a civilian can get in Kenya. He was accorded the title by H.E the President of the Republic of Kenya in 2013 in recognition of his contribution to the growth of tertiary education in Kenya.
- "2015 World Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame"
- "2014 Eastern Africa Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year"
- "Doctor of Science" - Received from Gulu University
- "Outstanding Alumni" - Received from his alma mater, Kenyatta University
- "Superlative Trailblazer Award" - Awarded by the Marketing Society of Kenya
References
[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
- ↑ "Kenyatta University Library catalog › Details for: Applied mathematics for craft engineering". Maktaba.ku.ac.ke. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ http://nairobilawmonthly.com/index.php/2018/06/05/media-like-false-preachers/
- ↑ http://www.360media.co.ke/?p=1640
- ↑ http://nairobilawmonthly.com/index.php/2018/06/05/media-like-false-preachers/
- ↑ https://businesstoday.co.ke/mku-founder-launches-tv-radio-station/
- ↑ Wainaina, James (2014-10-27). "Kenya: How Gicharu Started M KU With Sh19,000". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Meet the Boss: Simon Gicharu, founder, Mount Kenya University". Howwemadeitinafrica.com. 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150530085604/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ef9a136e-603f-11e4-88d1-00144feabdc0.html. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "Standard Digital News : : Business - Simon Gicharu moved to Rural Electrification". Standardmedia.co.ke. 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Mbaka, James (2014-05-23). "Standard Digital News - Kenya : Simon Gicharu promises 24hr services at REA". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Why Gulu awarded MKU founder honorary doctorate". Universitytimesafrica.com. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Word from the Chairman - The MKU Chairman: Mr. Simon Gicharu". Mku.ac.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Kinoti, Martin (2015-06-05). "Standard Digital News - Kenya : Why and when should one choose a career?". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Muchangi, John (2015-05-14). "Africa's Future Lies With Our Universities - Gicharu". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Standard Digital News : : Business - To develop, Kenya needs technology skills to use the billions from donors". Standardmedia.co.ke. 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "MKU founder named regional entrepreneur of the year by EY | Capital Business". Capitalfm.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Career educationist lands in Hall of Fame - Education | Daily Nation". Nation.co.ke. 2014-05-21. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Maichuhie, Kamau (2015-06-05). "Standard Digital News - Kenya : Mount Kenya University founder inducted into Hall of Fame". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Gicharu, MKU Founder to be Inducted into 'The Hall of Fame.' - Magazine Reel | The Best Kenyan Campus News SiteMagazine Reel | The Best Kenyan Campus News Site". Magazine Reel. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "The most from the coast". Coastweek. 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "MKU sets aside Sh300M for a tower campus in Kisumu | Capital Campus". Capitalfm.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Samora, Mwaura (2015-06-01). "Entertainment News - Kenya : : The Nairobian - I picked coffee to supplement family income - Founder of Mt Kenya University". Sde.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Standard Digital News : : Business - Rural Electrification Authority shelves signage plan to save Sh1.8 billion". Standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ "Standard Digital News : : Health - African scholars told to research on Ebola and stop relying on the West". Standardmedia.co.ke. 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ↑ Nyanchwani, Silas (2015-04-30). "Entertainment News - Kenya : : The Nairobian - Murang'a High: Where cheeky boys sneaked out to go milk neighbours' cows illegally". Sde.co.ke. Retrieved 2015-06-21.