Editor's Review
The Ministry of Education has signed an MOU with KCB Bank Kenya Limited to support the installation of solar energy systems and energy efficiency solutions in public universities.
The Ministry of Education has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with KCB Bank Kenya Limited to support the installation of solar energy systems and energy efficiency solutions in public universities.
In a statement on Thursday, September 3, Higher Education and Research Principal Secretary Beatrice Muganda said the partnership will provide a framework for financing, installing and maintaining solar systems in universities.
"I signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) inbetween the State Department for Higher Education and KCB Bank Kenya Limited to support the solarization of our university institutions.
"This partnership will facilitate the financing, installation, and maintenance of solar energy systems and energy efficiency solutions, informed by comprehensive energy audits and assessments of institutional power needs," the statement read.
Muganda said universities and KCB Bank will work together to identify facilities that can benefit from the programme by examining historical electricity consumption and conducting detailed assessments of individual sites to establish the most appropriate solar solutions.
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"Under this framework, Universities and KCB Bank will jointly undertake preliminary screening of university facilities, guided by historical power consumption patterns, and carry out detailed site assessments to determine the most suitable solar solutions for each institution.
"The program will be supported through Asset-Based Financing arrangements for individual facilities, enabling them to transition to clean energy in a structured and sustainable manner," the statement added.
Muganda also stressed that the solarisation programme should go beyond the installation of equipment by ensuring that students and university technicians are actively involved and acquire practical skills needed to manage the systems.
"We should not import equipment, install it and leave our students and technicians watching from the sidelines. Our young people must acquire the skills to design, install, operate, maintain and improve these systems.
"The partnership should therefore create opportunities for students and university staff to gain practical experience," the statement concluded.
This comes days after President William Ruto announced the signing of an agreement between Kenya and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer aimed at reducing the cost of medicines used to treat several types of cancer.
In a statement on Monday, August 31, Ruto said the agreement between Pfizer and the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), signed under the Accord for a Healthier World initiative, is expected to make cancer medicines more affordable while expanding access to newer treatments in Kenya.
"Today, Kenya has made a major breakthrough in the treatment of several cancers following the signing of a consequential agreement with Pfizer, a United States multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation," he wrote.
According to Ruto, the agreement has resulted in substantial reductions in the prices of medicines used to treat a wide range of cancers, including breast, stomach, colon, lung, prostate, oesophagus, leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
"Consequently, prices of medicines for the treatment of breast, stomach, colon, lung, prostate, oesophagus, leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma cancers have reduced remarkably by more than 7 times," he added.
According to Ruto, in some cases, the cost of cancer treatment medicines has fallen from as much as Ksh1 million to below Ksh50,000 per treatment cycle.
The reduction is also expected to ensure that the Ksh800,000 cancer treatment package under the Social Health Authority (SHA) is sufficient to cover patients without requiring additional payments.
Ruto further said the agreement would address delays in accessing newer cancer medicines, allowing Kenyan patients to benefit from advanced treatments without having to wait for a decade.
"Additionally, Kenya will access newer medicines without the 10-year wait that cancer patients are currently subjected to," he further said.
Ruto also linked the agreement to efforts to strengthen pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa, saying Pfizer would make its technologies and newer medicines available for local production on the continent.
"As the African Union Champion for Local Manufacturing of Medical Commodities, I am proud that Pfizer is making available these technologies and newer medicines for local pharmaceutical production in the continent," the statement concluded.
