President William Ruto has issued Kamagambo University with a Letter of Interim Authority, formally allowing the institution to commence university operations and admit students to approved degree programmes.
Ruto issued the authority on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at Kisumu State Lodge, marking a significant step in the transformation of the long-established Adventist institution in Migori County into a university.
The authority allows Kamagambo University to establish its governing organs, develop academic resources and, with approval from the Commission for University Education (CUE), admit students to three initial programmes.
They are the Bachelor of Education in Arts, Bachelor of Arts in Theology with Entrepreneurship and Bachelor of Business Administration with Entrepreneurship.
Ruto said the interim authority recognises the progress made by Kamagambo but does not amount to a full university Charter.
“The word ‘interim’ matters. Kamagambo has crossed the threshold, but it has not reached its destination. The confidence expressed today must now be earned, every day, through academic integrity, sound governance, prudent stewardship, and uncompromising quality.”
Under Kenya's Universities Act, a Letter of Interim Authority is an instrument of accreditation for establishing a university, while a Charter gives a university full legal status to operate as an autonomous institution. The Commission for University Education is mandated to regulate and accredit universities and academic programmes in the country.
Kamagambo's move into university education builds on more than a century of educational activity in the region.
Historical records from the Seventh-day Adventist Church indicate that educational work at Kamagambo began in the early 20th century. The institution became an important centre for teacher training from the 1920s, while a formal teacher-training facility was established there in 1928.
The institution also developed into a wider educational centre, with primary and secondary education, teacher training and ministerial education operating from the Kamagambo site in south-western Kenya, near the border of Migori and Kisii counties.
The historical role of Kamagambo in teacher education has been significant. Records from the Adventist Church indicate that thousands of teachers have been trained and deployed from the institution since 1928, with graduates serving in both Adventist and government schools.
Ruto said the university's historical foundation should now support its transition into an institution producing professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders.
He maintained that Kamagambo would become the third private university established by the Adventist Church, after the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton and the Adventist University of Africa in Ongata Rongai.
The Adventist University of Africa itself received a Letter of Interim Authority in 2008 before being granted a university Charter in 2013, demonstrating the regulatory pathway from interim authority to full university status.
The president stated that Kamagambo's new status comes as Kenya's university sector continues to expand. He cited Commission for University Education figures showing that 630,000 students were pursuing degree programmes in 2024, while nearly 124,000 students graduated that year.
He said the growth in access to university education must, however, be accompanied by quality and relevance.
“Yet expansion alone is not enough. Access without quality disappoints the student and quality without relevance disappoints the nation. Our universities will ultimately be judged by the competence of their graduates, the value of their research and the solutions they deliver to society.”
The President challenged Kamagambo to make entrepreneurship a practical component of its programmes rather than limiting it to classroom instruction.
He urged students to gain exposure to businesses, develop ideas and understand how enterprises operate, while encouraging the university to focus its research on challenges facing Migori County, the Lake Region and Kenya.
Ruto also called for stronger links between universities, industry and government, saying research should translate into technologies, enterprises and employment.
“Research must also travel. It must leave the journal and reach the farm, the classroom, the clinic, the factory, and the marketplace. A publication records an idea; and national transformation begins when that idea improves a life, lowers a cost, raises productivity, or creates a job.”
The President urged Kamagambo to prioritise academic depth and excellence before expanding its programmes.
He said the institution's immediate responsibility was to deliver quality teachers, principled theologians and capable business graduates while maintaining standards required to progress from interim authority to a full university Charter.