1 
 
Citation for Mr. Simon Nyutu Gicharu, CBS 
for the award of Honorary Doctor of Science 
by Gulu University on October 25, 2014 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EARLY LIFE: – Foundation Years  
 
 
Mr. Simon Nyutu Gicharu was born in a small rural village known as 
Gathiruini in Kiambu County, Kenya, in 1964. He is the first in a 
family of six, born to the late Stephen Gicharu, and Alice Wambui. 
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, Mr. 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, Mr. Gicharu, alongside his siblings, picked 
coffee at large commercials farms for which he was paid by every 
single kilogram of coffee berries picked.   
Mr. Gicharu was a diligent student and he joined Murang’a High 
School for his O-Levels (now one of the top 10 national schools) in 
Kenya. He was the captain / headboy in his final year. While in 
school, he etched a reputation for entrepreneurial acumen, and for 
2 
 
assisting fellow students in Mathematics, a subject he was very good 
at.  
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. It was at this time when he authored 
Kenya’s first post-secondary school book on Mathematics, “Applied 
Mathematics for Crafts Engineering.”    
Mr. Gicharu married his sweetheart Jane Gathoni Nyutu and they 
were blessed with three children; two boys and one daughter.  
 
 
 
SELF INITIATIVE: –Entrepreneurship 
 
In 1993, barely three years after graduation, Mr. Gicharu planted the 
germ seed that would sprout into a life-long dedication of assisting 
young people. With only Ksh20,000 (US$220) he established the 
Kenya Entrepreneurship Promotion Programme, a non-governmental 
organization that provided micro-loans and training in 
entrepreneurship.  
3 
 
Spurred by his initiative, the British Council accorded him a 
scholarship to study entrepreneurship at Cranfield University in 
Britain in 1995. 
Going to Britain meant he had to leave his teaching job at Thika 
Technical Training Institute. But it also opened him to the realities of 
the suffering that most African students endured while pursuing 
higher education abroad. Upon his return to Kenya, six months later, 
he resolved to do something that would stop African students from 
this suffering. But he had no job, no means of income, and yet had a 
young family to support. 
This did not deter him and the Kenya Entrepreneurship Promotion 
Programme he had started earlier slowly developed into a small 
college operating from the backstreets of Thika town. The college 
started by offering computer classes and later diversified into 
Management courses, under a new name Thika School of 
Management Studies.  
Gradually, Thika School of Management Studies increased its student 
enrolment and the number of courses. The types of courses it offered 
were determined by the job demands of the day and with the 
explosion in use of information science and technology, the Thika 
School of Management Studies changed its name to Thika Institute of 
Technology in 2003.  
 
That same year, Mr. Gicharu, resolved that Science training would be 
the backbone of Thika Institute of Technology. He made a trip to 
4 
 
India, on scanty information that at Punjab State, they were 
assembling science equipment in cottage industries that was 
relatively affordable for institutions. Mr. Gicharu immediately 
purchased the equipment, paving way for Thika Institute of 
Technology to become the first private college in post-independence 
Kenya to be accredited to offer the Diploma programme in 
Pharmacy.  
Thika Institute of Technology also diversified its curriculum and 
started offering science degree programmes in partnership with Jomo 
Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.  
In 2008, the Institute was awarded a Letter of Interim Authority by 
the Commission of Higher Education in Kenya to operate as an 
independent university under the name Mount Kenya University.  
 
 
Commitment to Providing Quality Education and Science 
Programmes   
 
With the establishment of Mount Kenya University, Mr. Gicharu 
inched closer to attaining his vision of assisting young people achieve 
their academic dreams. The university’s commitment in supporting 
science training was driven by the realization that most of Africa’s 
socio-economic problems can only be solved through science. Driven 
by the incessant passion to improve access to education, provide 
infrastructure and a diversified curriculum, the university was 
5 
 
granted a full Charter status in 2011. At the tender age of 46 years, 
Mr. Gicharu became the youngest Kenyan to have established a 
Chartered university. The US$220 Kenya Entrepreneurship 
Promotion Programme has now become US$400 million Mount 
Kenya University, with 14 Campuses in Kenya, one in Rwanda and 
another in Somaliland. It employs over 3,000 people and has a 
student population of about 50,000.  
Throughout his life at the helm of Mount Kenya University, Mr. 
Gicharu has distinguished himself for his humility. Mr. Gicharu has 
often concentrated on supporting the growth of Mount Kenya 
University with passion. Professionalism and merit are the single 
most determinant factors in recruitment, promotions and decision 
making at Mount Kenya University.  
The outcome of this wisdom is seen in the series of the “firsts” that 
define Mount Kenya University. The University was the first private 
institution of higher learning in Kenya to break the threshold of 
17,000 students; it was the first private university in Kenya to offer 
degree programmes in Pharmacy; it was the first University to 
establish a Campus in the remote Turkana County in the Northern 
frontier of Kenya; it was the first Kenyan University to establish a 
Campus in Kigali, Rwanda and Hargeisa, Somaliland. It was also the 
first private university in Kenya to build an anatomy laboratory at a 
public hospital, the Thika Level 5 Hospital . In 2009, Mr. Gicharu and 
Prof. Stanley Waudo, the Vice-Chancellor, both acting on behalf of 
Mount Kenya University, signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
6 
 
with Gulu University to boost science training. One of the outcomes 
of this MoU was the establishment and consequent accreditation of 
the Mount Kenya University School of Medicine. The School 
admitted its first batch of students in September, 2014. With the 
recent accreditation of the Nutrition and Dietetics programme by the 
Kenya Nutritionists and Dieticians Institute, Mount Kenya University 
now has the highest number of accredited Science programmes 
among private universities in Kenya.  
 Mr. Gicharu is a recipient of the 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 in 2013, by His Excellency the President of 
the Republic of Kenya in recognition of his contribution to the 
growth of tertiary education in Kenya.  
To cap the accolades that define his stellar managerial and leadership 
skills, Mr. Gicharu was appointed by His Excellency the President of 
the Republic of Kenya as the Chairman of the Rural Electrification 
Authority Board of Directors in April, 2014. 
Mr. Gicharu is the Chairman of the National Association of Private 
Universities in Kenya, which advocates for the creation of a 
conducive environment for the growth of higher education in Kenya. 
He is a strong believer in philanthropy as evidenced by the fact that  
in 2012 he established a Chairman’s Scholarship Fund at Mount 
Kenya University, which gives bursaries to bright students from 
disadvantaged backgrounds.  
7 
 
Mr. Gicharu is the patron of the Mount Kenya University Enterprise 
Academy, which provides seed capital of up to US$500,000 to 
promising entrepreneurs who are alumni of the University. He is also 
the founder of Equip Africa Institute, a regional-wide executive 
training arm dedicated to building capacity and expertise among 
African professionals.  
Mr. Gicharu is a recipient of Marketing Society of Kenya’s 
Superlative Trailblazer award (2011) in recognition of being the only 
individual in Kenya to have started a university from scratch. 
In addition to being in the coveted league of Chartered universities,  
Mount Kenya University was recently admitted to the Association of 
Commonwealth Universities. It is also a member of the 
Interuniversity Council of East Africa. The University ranks among 
the top 10 universities in Kenya in both the Webometrics and 4ICU 
global rankings.  
No doubt Mr. Gicharu continues to inspire, encourage, give hope and 
shape the future lives of thousands of people. It is not easy to find 
someone of Mr. Gicharu’s stature for this kind of award. 
To Mr. Simon Nyutu Gicharu, a successful visionary leader, a 
courageous entrepreneur, a humble servant and a passionate 
promoter of higher education in East Africa, we award the Honorary 
Degree of Doctor of Science.  
 
 
 
8