Sunday Morning: History Made Twice
Sunday, June 28 carried a double weight of significance, and the programme honoured both.
The VC Installation Service (9:00 a.m.)
To the soaring strains of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 in D Major, the academic procession entered the auditorium. Chancellor Dr. Harrington Simui Akombwa — who also serves as President of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division — declared the congregation constituted and presided over the formal installation of AUA’s fourth Vice Chancellor.
Dr Beatrice Muganda Inyangala, Principal Secretary of the State Department for Higher Education and Research at Kenya’s Ministry of Education, delivered the keynote address. She arrived not merely as a government representative, but as someone with a genuine investment in the question of what African higher education is truly for.
“There are moments in the life of an institution that are not merely ceremonial — they are providential,” she said. “Today is one such moment. We gather to celebrate two milestones that rarely converge in one sacred assembly. One ceremony welcomes new leadership; the other commissions a new generation. One passes the mantle, the other sends forth ambassadors. Together they symbolise continuity and renewal — a reminder that while leaders change and students graduate, the mission continues.”
Drawing from the book of Daniel, she spoke directly to the responsibilities of university leadership. Daniel, she reminded the audience, was distinguished not merely by his competence but by an excellent spirit — a quality that preceded and sustained every other achievement. “A great university will not only be measured by strategic plans and infrastructure projects,” she told Prof. Tayo, “but by the lives transformed under your stewardship.”
To the graduating class, she was both celebratory and unflinching. “Behind each smiling face today sits a story of perseverance. Some of you studied while supporting families. Others overcame financial hardship, personal loss, or moments of doubt — yet by God’s grace, you endured.” She offered five counsels to carry into the world: never stop learning; guard your integrity; prioritise service over status; build genuine relationships; and keep Christ at the centre. “When your identity is rooted in Christ,” she said, “success will never make you arrogant, and failure will never destroy you.”
She widened the frame with a challenge drawn from Africa’s own demographic reality. “By 2050, one in every four people on earth will be African. Our continent possesses the youngest population in the world, with approximately 60 per cent of its people under the age of 25. The question is not whether Africa has potential — the question is whether Africa will produce leaders capable of transforming that potential into prosperity. And you are that leader.”
She closed with a word for both the incoming Vice Chancellor and the institution at large: “This university will remain firmly anchored in its biblical foundation — but innovation and faithfulness are not opposing forces. Together, they ensure that this institution remains both relevant and rooted.”
Vice Chancellor’s Profile was then read by Dr. David Odhiambo of the AUA faculty. The Chancellor formally robed Prof. Tayo and presented the Symbols of Authority — the University Charter, Statutes, Seal, Logo, and Mace — each item carrying the weight of an institution now two decades in the making. Advocate Ken Nyaundi administered the Oath of Office, after which Chancellor Akombwa delivered the Installation Charge.
Congratulatory messages followed from Dr. Robert Osei-Bonsu, University Council Chair and General Vice-President of the General Conference, and from Dr. Emily Akuno, Vice-Chancellor of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. The dedicatory prayer was offered by Dr. Paulus Dingindawo Shongwe, President of the Southern Africa Union Conference.
A written message from outgoing Vice Chancellor Dr. Vincent Injety — who served AUA faithfully from 2021 to 2025 — was also received. “Leadership at this university is a sacred privilege more than administration,” he wrote, “a divine call rather than a transfer. It requires Godly wisdom, integrity, courage, and an unwavering dedication to Adventist Education, academic excellence and student success.”
A University at a Defining Moment
The weekend captured something larger than any single ceremony. AUA was founded in response to a continent growing faster than its institutions could train leaders for. The Africa Graduate Education Taskforce was appointed in 2001. The General Conference voted to establish the institution in 2003. The Letter of Interim Authority came in 2008. The Charter followed in March 2013. Fifteen graduation ceremonies later, 1,192 alumni later, AUA turns its eyes toward what it is still becoming.
The recessional that closed Sunday’s ceremony — Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary — rang out over Advent Hill, carrying the sound of something that has been faithfully built, and something that, under new leadership, is still being built.
