Moi University’s first Vice Chancellor Prof. Douglas Odhiambo has passed on.
Odhiambo succumbed to a stroke on Monday at Avenue Hospital in the Lakeside City of Kisumu, a week after he was admitted to the facility aged 89.
He is remembered to have played a big role in the formation of Moi University as he was a member of the Mackay Commission tasked to prepare plans and recommendations for the establishment of the second university in Kenya that was appointed by retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi on 1981.
Moi University then began in 1984 after a recommendation of Mackay Report stating it was good to have a second university in the country and Prof. Odhiambo would become its first Vice Chancellor.
Prof. Odhiambo oversaw the starting of Moi University during that time with 83 students who had been transferred from the Department of Forestry at the University of Nairobi until 1988.
He is also remembered to have taken part in the formation of 8-4-4 education model which was aimed to equip school leavers at the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) with adequate skills for better opportunities in both formal and informal sectors of employment.
Prof. Odhiambo was the first Chancellor of the Technical University of Mombasa at the time of his death.
His daughter, Elizabeth Ochieng revealed that the requiem mass for the late Professor will be conducted on Thursday at St. Stephen’s Church in Kisumu after which he will be laid to rest on Friday in Migori County.