By John Mutiso
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has denied reports circulating online claiming that hackers accessed the institution’s student portal and cleared fees for all students.
In a statement on Tuesday, December 9, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Robert Kinyua, said the information being shared on social media was false.
“JKUAT has noted with much concern recent misinformation circulating on social media claiming that the JKUAT Student Portal has been hacked. This information is false. All University systems and portals remain secure, and all student records and data are safe,” the statement read.
Kinyua explained that the brief portal interruption experienced earlier was due to a planned system upgrade.
He said the outage occurred during work to integrate new features under the revised university funding model.
“The temporary outage experienced on the Student Portal, and which has since been resolved, resulted from a scheduled system upgrade that was being carried out to incorporate the student household fee component as per the new funding model,” the statement added.
Kinyua added that all information remained secure during the process.
“We reassure all our students and stakeholders that no data or records have been affected in any way,” the statement concluded.
Elsewhere, this comes a day after the University of Nairobi (UoN) issued a set of instructions to all graduands preparing to take part in its 74th graduation ceremony.
In a communication on Tuesday, December 9, the university directed graduands to first verify that all their academic records are correct.
This includes confirming that all marks have been accurately entered into the Student Management Information System (SMIS) and ensuring that every required unit has been successfully completed.
The university noted that any student who has not met the full academic requirements will not be awarded a diploma or conferred a degree during the ceremony.
UoN further highlighted that all outstanding fees must be cleared at least one month before the graduation date.
In addition, graduands are required to pay the mandatory convocation fee of Ksh1,000 before applying for graduation, regardless of whether they plan to attend the ceremony.
Those intending to participate in the event must also pay the compulsory congregation fee of Ksh2,500.
The hiring of graduation gowns has been standardised across all categories, with PhD, Masters, Postgraduate Diploma, Undergraduate, and Diploma graduands each required to pay Ksh4,000.
The university clarified that these payments must be made before submission of the application for graduation, as only those who complete all financial procedures on time will be processed for inclusion in the final list.
UoN also reminded graduands to verify the order of their names at the faculty level before the ceremony, noting that once a degree or diploma is awarded or conferred, no changes will be permitted.
The institution stressed that only graduands who submit their official application within the stipulated timelines will be included in the graduation register, and each must be fully cleared by their respective faculties.
