The Foundations

Kenya Polytechnic on Whitehouse Road in 1961 (Courtesy of www.gordonmumford.com (link is external))

The Technical University of Kenya shares history with the development of the first three higher education institutions in East Africa. In the 1920s there were heightened agitations for the expansion of access to higher education by indigenous leaders in the East African Territories. Concerted efforts in the form of committees, commissions and conferences resulted in positive developments that included the elevation of Makerere Institute of to Makerere University College of the University of London in 1949, proposal to establish the Royal Technical College of East Africa (RTCEA) in Nairobi was approved and construction started on 25th January 1952 and establishment of Dar es Salaam University College in 1961.

RTC in Nairobi admitted the first cohort of students pursuing Architecture, Arts, Domestic Science, and Engineering and Science in 1956. Simultaneously, another group of students were registered to the Kenya Technical Institute but admitted (in 1956) within the tuition of RTCEA in Nairobi.

Kenya Polytechnic Cadet Engineers, class of 1963 (Courtesy of Amu Gather, TU-K Alumni)