The 8 th Graduation Ceremony was the first of its kind in our University’s history. It was
the first time the University was hosting a Virtual Graduation occasioned by the COVID-
19 Pandemic. The Ceremony was held on 25 th February 2021 and broadcasted live on
TUMO TV’s via our YouTube and Facebook sites. The theme of the 8 th Graduation
Ceremony was ‘Leveraging Technology and Innovation to Sustain Academic and Research
Excellence in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic’.
The remarkable event was attended by various Stakeholders including representatives
from the National Government, the County Government of Mombasa and the Industrial
sector.
While presiding over the Graduation, TUM Acting Chancellor and Council Chairman Dr.
Robert Arunga acknowledged the strides made by Technical University of Mombasa
during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Dr. Arunga stated that the Pandemic caused
Universities to rethink and develop innovative methods to combat the effects of the
Pandemic mainly through blended learning techniques to enhance service delivery
including carrying out Virtual Graduation Ceremonies. It was therefore his conviction
that the new graduates would go out and impact the world in many ways by finding
solutions to the challenges facing society and the globe.
Representing the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education, Chief Administrative
Secretary Madam Mumina Bonaya challenged graduands to be more proactive by being
job creators rather than job seekers. She added that the graduands were fully and
adequately prepared to serve the nation and should think outside the box since the global
economy had been greatly affected by the Pandemic.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Laila Abubakar saluted the graduands for their patience
and resilience especially towards the end of their academic journey which was impacted
heavily by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite being hard-hit by the pandemic, the
University collaborated with the Mombasa County Government in hosting a 300-bed
capacity COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Center in one of its Engineering blocks to
supplement capacity at the Coast General Provincial Teaching and Referral Hospital. She
recognized the contribution made by Academic Staff in the fight against the Pandemic by
devising ventilators and making the sanitizer that was used in the Spraying Booths at the
Nyali bridge and the Likoni Ferry channel.
The Chief Guest ,Captain Suleiman of the Kenya Ports Authority, highlighted the current
concerns over absorption of University graduates in the job market. He advised the
Government to heavily invest in TVET Programmes while working closely with the
industry to ensure that the courses mounted are relevant to the market. He lauded theUniversity for offering TVET courses as one way of ensuring that Competency Based
Students were released to the job market.
A total of 2,706 Students graduated. Out of the number 1,570 were Male and 1,136 were
female.
“Congratulations Class of 2020 Graduands!”