UoN to set up Sh1b campus in Kisumu

By Rushdie Oudia

KISUMU, KENYA: The University of Nairobi (UoN) has embarked on construction of a campus set to cost more than Sh1 billion in Kisumu city.

The 16-storey building, which will start functioning in June 2014, will house lecture halls for all faculties and attract more students.

Phase one of the project will cost the university close to Sh800 million. 

The Kisumu campus is being constructed next to a historic building that is currently gazetted as a protected site, a building that housed the British Council library many years ago.

According to the clerk of works who stands in for the client, Mr David Koskei, the new tower block is set out behind and to the sides of the existing British Council building, which is a protected historic monument.

“The new building is designed in a way that it blends well with the existing monument that the city council said must remain intact. The building used to be a library and at the same time was used by various thespians in theatre activities,” he says.

Koskei says the building will be constructed in two phases, with the first one being completed in June next year and that completion of the second phase will depend on availability of funds during that time.

The first phase, which is currently ongoing, comprises the erection and completion of six storey campus complex tower podium block and one split basement car parking floor.

The floor will be approximately 7,393 Square metres together with associate external site and services infrastructural works. This will include lecture and seminar halls as well as an amphitheatre, library and office block.

10 more storeys

Koske says the first phase will also see the construction of car park, water storage reserve tanks, a generator and switch transfer rooms at the basement floor.

In the second phase, 10 more storeys will be added to carry more lecture and seminar rooms. It will further carry computer science labs, cafeteria, administration offices, Vice-Chancellor’s office and a boardroom.

Koske says the first phase, if calculated using two Square metres space, is able to hold close to 5,000-seated students at a go, which makes it convenient for the students who will be attending the institution.

Education institutions in Kisumu town have provided learners a chance to access higher levels of education, with a high demand for space within the Central Business District.

Growing town

The high demand has prompted bigger institutions such as Maseno University to purchase buildings within the CBD to contain the growing number of students.

Kisumu resident Naman Odiero says the coming up of the campus next to his working station is a good thing for him as he says he will be leaving work and thereafter attend classes at the institution.

“This is a good opportunity for me to further my studies as well as do my job without the two clashing,” said Odiero, who is a banker.

As Kisumu town experiences growth and development, infrastructure remains one of the main sectors that have grown in the last five years.

Buildings are slowly coming up in the city with hotels and learning institutions taking centre stage.