KEMRI Seeks KSh500 Million Boost to Finish Research Centre, Warns Funding Delays Could Weaken Kenya's Disease Preparedness By Jeff Kizzilah Digital Editor
The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health has expressed strong support for the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), pledging to consider its request for KSh500 million to complete the Nairobi research construction project alongside funding for similar research infrastructure across the country during the next national budget-making process.
The commitment followed an oversight visit by the committee, chaired by Dr. James Nyikal, during which Members of Parliament held extensive discussions with the KEMRI Board and management on the institute’s achievements, funding needs, research commercialisation, and collaboration within Kenya’s health research sector.
Speaking after the visit, Dr. Nyikal praised KEMRI’s growing contribution to medical research, innovation and training, noting that the institution had entered a new era after receiving its university charter.
He said the charter empowers KEMRI to award its own academic degrees while continuing to undertake advanced medical research, but also requires the institute to strengthen its governance and institutional structures to support both its academic and research mandates.
The committee further noted that KEMRI has developed numerous health innovations—including vaccines, diagnostics, sanitisers and other medical products—with significant commercial potential. However, many of these innovations have yet to reach the market.
Dr. Nyikal urged the institute to establish stronger commercialisation mechanisms to generate additional revenue, reduce reliance on donor funding and accelerate the uptake of locally developed health technologies.
The lawmakers also called for closer collaboration among Kenya’s key health research institutions, including KEMRI, BioVax, the Primate Research Institute and the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, to eliminate duplication, improve efficiency and strengthen the country’s research ecosystem.
Welcoming the committee, KEMRI Director-General Prof. Elijah Songok described the visit as an important milestone in strengthening accountability and demonstrating how public resources have been invested to improve Kenya’s health research capacity.
Prof. Songok noted that the oversight visit was the first since KEMRI received its university charter, explaining that while the institute is now a specialised degree-awarding institution, it remains under the Ministry of Health, with the Ministry of Education overseeing academic matters.
He reaffirmed that KEMRI’s core mandate remains health research, innovation and capacity building aimed at improving healthcare delivery and public health outcomes across Kenya.
The Director-General warned that inadequate funding could delay completion of specialised laboratories and training facilities critical for preparing Kenya to respond to future disease outbreaks, including Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases.
Prof. Songok also appealed for stronger government support under the Buy Kenya, Build Kenya initiative to ensure locally developed vaccines, diagnostics, sanitisers and traditional medicine products receive procurement priority in public health institutions.
He further called for increased domestic investment in research, noting that nearly 70 per cent of KEMRI’s research funding currently comes from international partners. Greater government investment, he said, would allow the institute to focus on national health priorities while leveraging additional support from global research partners.
The visit reaffirmed KEMRI’s strategic role in disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, vaccine development, evidence-based policymaking and advancing Kenya’s Universal Health Coverage agenda, with both Parliament and the institute expressing confidence that sustained investment and stronger collaboration will further strengthen Kenya’s health research and innovation ecosystem.
