Dr. Paul Gachanga Ndarua was the founder and visionary of Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology. He had been  the driving force behind the noble idea of establishing a women’s only university, the first of its kind in Kenya. Dr. Ndarua was an astute architect and business man by profession and a great supporter of education. His experiences and great milestones in a successful professional career culminated in his passion for women’s education, where he spent his time, energy and resources for the  benefit of women’s education.

His personal efforts to facilitate provision of top quality education to women dates back to 1989, when he purchased land on which  St. Lucie Kiriri Girls Secondary School was built. It opened its doors on  25th February 1992. The idea of an all women’s  university stemmed from the great gender disparities seen between male and female students gaining entry to tertiary education and more so for women pursuing courses in Science and Technology courses.

This led  Dr. Ndarua to conceive the idea of creating an environment where at tertiary level , women would come together and receive a holistic experience of education and personal development. Here they would be allowed to explore and experience to their greatest potential and ability surrounded by befitting role models. The vision of one man brought, and continues to bring women of all cultures, creed and race to mould the into holistic women. It was the vision of the founder to reach out to as many women as possible, who would then go on to build their communities, their villages, their countries and the world at large. He envisioned that these young women would become ambassadors of their communities and the greater world and become employers and creators of employment opportunities.

Dr. Ndarua’s hope was that the mustard seed he planted, namely the university, would grow into a big tree whose fruit would feed the minds of millions of Africans, and the world.