Academic Credentials for Mental Health Professionals in Kenya

Kenya gates its mental health professions at the qualification, then at a licence. This guide sets out which degree opens which register, who holds it, and where each requirement is written down.

Quick answer: which qualification leads to which register

Kenyan statute does the work here. Each Act creates a body, and each body holds a register.

One row does most of the damage when it is wrong. Counselling and psychology in Kenya are registered by a statutory body, the Counsellors and Psychologists Board, usually shortened to CPB. It was established under section 3 of the Counsellors and Psychologists Act, 2014.¹

The eight-year gap explains the confusion. The Act is from 2014, but the Board itself was established on 5 August 2022.² For most of the intervening period there was no functioning statutory registrar, which is when associations came to be described as the registering bodies. That description is now out of date.

Professional associations are not that body. Joining an association is not registration, and it does not make practice lawful. That distinction is the spine of this page.

How Kenyan qualifications are described

Three separate systems describe a Kenyan qualification, and they answer different questions.

School level. Kenyan programmes publish their entry requirements against the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, the KCSE, as a mean grade with a subject cluster. The University of Nairobi's social work routes run from a mean grade of C+ or equivalent,¹⁴ and the Kenya Medical Training College sets a mean grade of C or equivalent for its diplomas.¹⁵

University level. The Commission for University Education, established by section 4 of the Universities Act, accredits universities and their academic programmes, which it defines as formally recognising a programme of a university.¹⁷ An unaccredited award will not carry you through the steps below.

Framework level. The Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act No. 22 of 2014 established the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, the KNQA, to place qualifications on a single national framework.¹⁹ That is the layer that matters when a qualification crosses a border, and section 11 returns to it.

Durations are set programme by programme, so the figures on this page appear only where the awarding institution publishes them.

Counselling and psychology: register first, then licence

This is the part the internet gets wrong about Kenya, and getting it wrong is expensive.

The Act creates one Board for both professions. Section 6 gives it the function to register and licence counsellors and psychologists, administer examinations, and approve the courses that count towards registration.¹

Step one: registration

Section 23 sets the qualification: a diploma degree in counselling, or in psychology, from a recognised university. Both routes also require a pass in an examination set by the Board, good moral character, and that the applicant is a fit and proper person.¹

Read that wording carefully before you enrol. The phrase in section 23 is diploma degree, and the clause does not separate a diploma from a degree. Because the Act's own wording is ambiguous, confirm with the Board which qualification it accepts for the category you want, before you pay tuition.

You then apply in the prescribed form to the Registrar with the prescribed fee. Once the Board accepts you as eligible, you are registered and the Registrar issues a certificate.¹ Applications and payments are made through the Board's eCitizen services portal.²

Step two: the practising licence

Registration on its own does not permit practice. Under section 28 a person may not practise as a counsellor or psychologist unless registered, compliant with the prescribed continuing education and supervision requirements, and holding a valid practising licence issued by the Board in accordance with Regulations made under the Act.¹ Note where that sends you: the operative detail sits in subsidiary legislation, and no Regulations under this Act were located for this guide, so ask the Board.

The licence runs for one year, from 1 January to 31 December, and is renewed on expiry.¹ A qualification is therefore the start of an annual obligation, not the end of one.

What a professional association is, and is not

Kenya has several long-standing associations in this field, and they do useful work. Membership is a professional affiliation. It is not registration and it does not carry a practising licence. Section 37 sets out the offence and its own exceptions, and association membership is not among them.¹

Two groups sit outside the ordinary rule and should read section 37 itself. Section 37(2) exempts a person holding a higher academic doctoral qualification entitling them to use the title. Section 37(3) disapplies the section to a duly qualified person employed as a psychologist or counsellor by the national or county government.¹ Both are worded as exceptions to section 37, and on those words neither touches the separate registration and licensing provisions in sections 24 and 28.

If a course, an employer or a directory says association membership completes your credentials in Kenya, treat that as a warning sign and check with the Board.

The degrees that lead to CPB registration

The Board approves the courses that count, so the definitive list is the Board's.¹ What follows are programmes verified at the awarding university's own current course pages, as examples of the shape of the training rather than as a complete list.

Clinical psychology at master's level

The University of Nairobi runs a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology through the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Health Sciences. It takes two academic years, comprising six semesters of fifteen weeks each.¹¹

Its entry route is wider than most people expect. Applicants may hold a first degree in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing or veterinary medicine. They may instead hold an upper second class degree in psychology, counselling psychology, sociology or social work, or a pass degree with relevant work experience.¹¹

Teaching is face to face, by open distance and e-learning, or blended, with compulsory practicals alongside the taught courses and dissertation.¹¹

Moi University holds this territory through its School of Medicine's Department of Behavioural Science, whose page describes a BSc in Medical Psychology developed with Maastricht University and an MSc in Clinical Psychology.¹² Confirm the current intake with the department, because that page carries older wording.

Counselling psychology at doctoral level

Kenyatta University offers a Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology, delivered blended, sixty per cent face to face. Entry requires a master's in counselling psychology, clinical psychology, guidance and counselling, or counsellor education, with a B average, plus specified master's units in theories of counselling, ethics, skills and techniques, and practicum. It carries two supervised internship semesters, the first clinical.¹³

A note on programme lists. Course names in this field change often, and second variants of a real programme are frequently reported that the university does not offer. Check the awarding university's own current catalogue before you apply, and treat any list you find elsewhere, including this one, as a starting point.

Psychiatry: medicine first

Psychiatrists in Kenya qualify as doctors first. Their register is the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council's, not the CPB's.

The sequence is set partly by the training programme and partly by the Council. It runs: a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, then a year of internship in an approved medical institution, then registration with the Council, then specialty training.¹⁰⁷

The Master of Medicine

The University of Nairobi's Master of Medicine in Psychiatry is a three-year full-time programme of clinical work, coursework, dissertation and examination. At least two of the three years must be spent in a medical institution in East Africa recognised by the University's Senate.¹⁰

Admission requires all three of the following: a medical degree registerable in Kenya, at least one year of internship in a recognised medical institution, and at least one year of clinical experience as a medical officer or equivalent.¹⁰

The programme adds a specific condition on the internship. It must have been completed in a medical institution approved by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board of Kenya, as the programme page still calls the Council, and the applicant must have been registered, or qualified to be registered, by it.¹⁰

It is a job as much as a course. The trainee is a full-time employee of the hospital, carries clinical responsibility under supervision, and works nights and weekend calls, with lectures occupying no more than two hours of a working day.¹⁰

Fees are published as a three-year schedule whose first year is stamped 2023/2024. Across the three years it totals KES 1,076,000, made up of tuition plus examination, medical, ICT, activity, library, registration and thesis charges.¹⁰ Later years carry no year label on that schedule, so confirm current figures with the Faculty before you budget.

Moi University runs the second route. Its School of Medicine lists a Mental Health department, and describes postgraduate Master of Medicine training in Mental Health among the programmes its departments teach into, based at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.¹²

Becoming a specialist

Finishing the Master of Medicine is not the same as being a specialist. Under section 11B of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act the Council may recognise a medical or dental practitioner as a specialist, on application in the prescribed form.⁸

The Council publishes a list of recognised specialties and subspecialties, and its guidelines set what each requires.⁹ Check the current list rather than any summary of it, this page included.

One date on that page applies to everyone reading this as a prospective psychiatrist. The Council states that the minimum durations of specialty and subspecialty training set out in the 2024 List apply to practitioners graduating from those programmes after 31 December 2025.⁹ Anyone starting training now falls inside that rule, and a period of supervised post-training practice under a recognised specialist also applies.

A registered practitioner also needs an annual licence, and the Council's public registers are searchable online.⁷

Social work: a statute arrived in 2026

Kenyan social work was unregulated by statute for a long time, and much published guidance still says so. That changed recently, and precision here is the difference between useful and misleading.

The Social Work Professionals Act, 2026 is Act No. 1 of 2026. It was assented to on 19 February 2026 and commenced on 10 March 2026. It provides for the establishment of the Institute of Social Work Professionals and the Social Work Professionals Board, and for the examination, registration and regulation of social work professionals.⁴

Section 18 sets the qualification. An applicant must be of good conduct, have paid the prescribed fees, and have successfully undergone a prescribed certificate, diploma or degree course and passed the appropriate examination conducted or prescribed by the Institute. A course and examination taken outside Kenya also qualifies, where the Institute recognises them as equivalent.⁴ Section 27 provides the title of Registered Social Work Professional, and section 38 penalises its unauthorised use.⁴

One cycle differs from every other profession on this page. A social work practising certificate is renewable every two years, not annually.⁴

The degree route

Kenyan social work is a university subject with a heavy practice element. The University of Nairobi has taught a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work since 1976, within the Department of Sociology, Social Work and African Women Studies.¹⁴

The published structure runs over four named years. It comprises forty-one taught courses, each of forty-five contact hours, and three practicum courses. The requirement is not less than 1,200 hours of field practicum, with each practicum course taking ten weeks of external agency attachment.¹⁴

The entry routes printed with that programme are the Faculty's published routes rather than a social-work-specific list. They run: a KCSE mean grade of C+ or equivalent; a mean grade of C- held with a certificate and a diploma; or a recognised diploma with an aggregate C at KCSE.¹⁴ Confirm the programme's own requirement with the department.

Occupational therapy: regulated, and has been since 2018

Occupational therapists work extensively in Kenyan mental health settings, and their regulation is often described as pending. It is not.

The Occupational Therapists (Training, Registration and Licensing) Act, Act No. 31 of 2017, commenced on 16 August 2017. Section 3 establishes the Occupational Therapy Council of Kenya.³

Section 41 sets the deadline that closed the question. After the expiry of twelve months from commencement, no person may carry on business or hold themselves out as an occupational therapist except in compliance with the Act.³ That twelve months expired in August 2018.

Section 24 states that a person shall not render occupational therapy services in Kenya as an occupational therapist unless registered. The penalty runs to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings, or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.³

What registration requires

Section 23 sets four conditions. The applicant must have successfully undergone a prescribed course of training at an approved training institution, applied in the prescribed form, paid the prescribed fees, and trained under the supervision of a registered occupational therapist for a period, being not less than one year, as the Council may prescribe.³

That last condition is the one people miss. At least a supervised year sits between graduation and registration, and the Act sets that as a floor rather than a fixed term, so ask the Council what it currently prescribes.

The training routes

The Kenya Medical Training College lists Occupational Therapy at diploma level, and Occupational Therapy in renal rehabilitation and community based rehabilitation at higher diploma level. Diploma entry is a KCSE mean grade of C or equivalent and the diploma runs three years. Higher diploma entry requires a basic diploma in a relevant field and a minimum of two years of working experience, and the higher diploma runs one year.¹⁵

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology runs the degree. Direct entry is four years, on a KCSE mean grade of C+ with C+ in the biology, chemistry, physics or mathematics, and English or Kiswahili cluster.¹⁶

There is also a three-year upgrading route. Diploma holders join at year two and higher diploma holders at year three. The university states plainly that candidates on this route must be registered with the respective national professional bodies, and that foreign-trained therapists must be registered with their respective professional associations in their countries of training.¹⁶

Psychiatric and mental health nursing

Nursing has its own statute and its own council, and mental health is a named field within it.

The Nurses and Midwives Act, Cap. 257, provides for the training, registration, enrolment and licensing of nurses. Section 3 establishes the Nursing Council of Kenya.⁵

Section 13 sets the requirements for registration: good character, payment of the prescribed fee, completion of a prescribed course of instruction, and passing the examinations conducted or prescribed by the Council.⁵ A practising certificate is time-limited: on the wording of section 17(7) it is valid from the date it is issued and expires on the thirtieth day of December of every year.⁵

The Council sets out the process. Candidates sit the Council's national licensure examination, then submit an online application for registration and licensing once results are released. The Council states that a practice licence follows within seventy-two hours and the registration certificate within four weeks. The same page also carries a second block giving instant licensure and certificate issuance in two weeks, so treat both as indicative and confirm with the Council.⁶

Internship, and where it applies

Internship requirements differ by the route taken into the degree, which trips people up. The Council's published position is that a basic Bachelor of Science in Nursing requires a one-year internship before registration. Registered nurse to BScN graduates complete twenty-seven weeks of self-sponsored internship in midwifery and community health nursing. Registered nurse or midwife to BScN graduates complete fifteen weeks in community health nursing. Upgrading KRCHN graduates apply directly, with no internship.⁶

The mental health qualification

The Kenya Medical Training College lists Registered Nursing Mental Health and Psychiatry at diploma level, and its diploma programmes run three years.¹⁵ That is the standard Kenyan route into psychiatric nursing.

There is a second, shorter route for nurses already qualified in another field. The College lists Psychiatric Nursing as a higher diploma, which runs one year and admits holders of a basic diploma in a relevant field with at least two years of working experience.¹⁵ That is the specialisation route for a working nurse, and it is the shortest formal mental health qualification on this page.

Addiction and substance use work

Addiction work sits across the professions above rather than beside them. A counsellor working in addiction is registered as a counsellor, a nurse as a nurse. There is no separate statutory addiction register.

The government agency is the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse, NACADA, established under Act No. 14 of 2012, Cap. 122, to provide an institutional framework for the control of alcohol and drug abuse.²⁰ Older forms of the name that drop the alcohol half are out of date, and a source still using one is probably old on this subject too.

Because there is no addiction-specific register, the question to ask of any addiction training is which statutory registration it feeds. If the answer is none, it is continuing professional development, not a licence to practise.

Creative therapies: no Kenyan route, and no protected title

Art therapy, music therapy and dramatherapy are practised in Kenya, largely in non-governmental and school settings. No Kenyan statute regulates them, no Kenyan body registers them, and no Kenyan programme leading to a recognised creative-therapies qualification was verified for this guide. Practitioners therefore train abroad, in jurisdictions that do accredit these professions. Our international credential equivalency guide sets out how credentials compare across countries.

Qualifications earned outside Kenya

A qualification earned abroad does not convert automatically, and assessing a qualification is a separate question from a licence to practise. Three Kenyan bodies do three different things, and applying to the wrong one costs weeks.

Ask the receiving body which assessment it wants before you pay for one. A university, an employer and a regulator can each want a different document, and the three services above are not interchangeable.

The KNQA route in practice

KNQA publishes what it wants: certified copies of certificates and transcripts, certified translation of anything not in English, an affidavit on a name change, and for postgraduate awards a complete signature page in English.¹⁸ Published fees are KES 5,000 per qualification for alignment for Kenyan citizens and KES 10,000 for foreign nationals, and KES 1,000 for validation for citizens and KES 3,000 for foreign nationals, plus KES 50 per transaction.¹⁸ Those were the figures on the Authority's service page in August 2026.

Check the portal address before you start. That page directs applicants to a quality assurance portal, while Kenyan universities direct individual applicants to a recognition, equation and verification portal.¹⁸²² The contact address on the KNQA page is rev@knqa.go.ke, which suggests one service in transition rather than two rival addresses. Confirm at knqa.go.ke rather than assuming.

In the reverse direction, a Kenyan qualification is assessed by the receiving country's regulator against its standards, not Kenya's.

Regulation, protected titles and checking a practitioner

This page covers what you have to study. The offences and penalties, the step-by-step registration and licensing process, the Board's contact routes, the complaints and discipline process, and how to check a practitioner on the register are all answered in our companion guide, mental health licensing and regulation in Kenya.

Choosing a route, and finding a therapist

If you are choosing a training route in Kenya, four questions narrow it faster than any prospectus.

• Which register does this qualification open? Name the body before you enrol. If the course cannot name one, that is your answer
• Is it accredited, and separately, is it approved? Accrediting a university academic programme is the Commission for University Education's exclusive mandate, though it may consult the professional regulator. Approving courses that count towards CPB registration is the Board's. A provider offering Board approval in place of CUE accreditation has answered a different question¹⁷¹
• What sits between graduation and registration? A supervised year for occupational therapy, an internship for medicine and for most nursing routes, and a Board examination for counselling and psychology³¹⁰⁶¹
• What is the annual obligation afterwards? The CPB licence runs to 31 December each year, and medical and nursing licences renew annually too¹⁵

If you are looking for a therapist rather than a training route, the register is the check that matters. TherapyRoute is a clinician-run directory, founded by a registered clinical psychologist. You can browse therapists in Kenya, and our guide on how to find the right therapist sets out what to look for.

Last reviewed: August 2026. Jurisdiction: Kenya. Programme details, entry requirements and fees are set by individual institutions and change between intakes. Confirm both the programme and the registration requirement, with the institution and the relevant statutory body, before you apply or pay.

Team TherapyRoute

References

1. [1] Counsellors and Psychologists Act, Act No. 14 of 2014 (Cap. 253C, Revised Edition 2022), Kenya Law. s.3 (the Board); s.6 (functions: register and licence, administer examinations, approve courses); s.23 (a diploma degree in counselling or in psychology from a recognised university, a Board examination, good moral character and a fit and proper person); s.24 (application to the Registrar, registration, certificate); s.28(1) (registration, the prescribed continuing education and supervision requirements, and a valid practising licence issued 'in accordance with Regulations made under this Act'); s.29(1) (one year, 1 January to 31 December, renewable); s.37 (offence and protected titles), with the s.37(2) doctoral-qualification exception and the s.37(3) disapplication to a duly qualified person employed by the national or county Government. kenyalaw.org.
2. [2] Counsellors and Psychologists Board services portal on eCitizen: 'The Counsellors and Psychologist Board was established on the 5th of August 2022 ... under the provisions of Section 3 of the Counsellors and Psychologists Act No. 14 of 2014'; the two services listed are 'Registration as a counsellor/psychologist' and 'Counsellor/Psychologist Practising License'. Fee amounts sit behind the eCitizen login. cprb.ecitizen.go.ke.
3. [3] Occupational Therapists (Training, Registration and Licensing) Act, Act No. 31 of 2017 (Cap. 253H), commenced 16 August 2017, Kenya Law. s.3 (the Occupational Therapy Council of Kenya); s.23 (a prescribed course at an approved training institution, the prescribed form and fees, and supervision by a registered occupational therapist 'for such period, being not less than one year, as the Council may prescribe'); s.24 (offence, fine up to five hundred thousand shillings or two years or both); s.41 (the twelve-month transitional). kenyalaw.org.
4. [4] Social Work Professionals Act, 2026, Act No. 1 of 2026, Kenya Law. Assented 19 February 2026, commenced 10 March 2026. Long title (the Institute of Social Work Professionals and the Social Work Professionals Board; examination, registration and regulation of social work professionals); s.3 (the Institute); s.6 (the Council); s.18(1) (good conduct, prescribed fees, a prescribed certificate, diploma or degree course and the appropriate examination, or an equivalent course and examination taken outside Kenya recognised by the Institute); s.18(2) (Gazette approval of sufficient qualifications); s.21 (application to the Registration Committee, prescribed form and fee); s.27 (title); s.28(5) (practising certificate renewable every two years); s.38 (penalty). Section 42: (1) the Cabinet Secretary appoints an Interim Council upon commencement of this Act; (3) it assumes the Council's responsibilities until the first elections; (4) within twelve months of commencement it must prescribe regulations for those elections, facilitate registration of members and convene the first annual general meeting. The twelve months runs on the tasks, not the appointment. kenyalaw.org.
5. [5] Nurses and Midwives Act, Cap. 257 (Act No. 3 of 1983, Revised Edition 2022), Kenya Law. s.3 (establishment of the Nursing Council of Kenya); s.13 (good character, prescribed fee, prescribed course of instruction, and examinations conducted or prescribed by the Council); s.17(7), which sits in the Part on private practice (the practising certificate is valid from the date of issue and expires on the thirtieth day of December of every year); ss.19-20 (offences). kenyalaw.org.
6. [6] Nursing Council of Kenya, Registration and Licensing: the national licensure examination, online application after results, 'a practice license and registration certificate within a period of 72 hours and 4 weeks, respectively', and the internship rules for the four BScN categories (basic BScN one year; RN to BScN twenty-seven weeks; RN/M to BScN fifteen weeks; upgrading KRCHN direct). A second block on the same page instead states 'instant licensure, certificate issuance in two weeks', which is why the body flags both. nckenya.com.
7. [7] Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, Practitioners' Info: registration and EAC reciprocal registration; the site's Application for Annual License page, which states that licences 'can now be applied online by visiting the Online Services Portal available on osp.kmpdc.go.ke'; and the public practitioner registers at registers.kmpdc.go.ke. kmpdc.go.ke; kmpdc.go.ke (annual licence).
8. [8] Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act, Cap. 253 (2019 Revision), section 11B (recognition of specialists: the Council may recognise a medical or dental practitioner as a specialist), read with the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Training, Assessment and Registration) Rules 2022, rule on specialist and subspecialist recognition. Sourced from the repository's verified Kenya regulation pool. kmpdc.go.ke (Act, PDF); kmpdc.go.ke (Rules 2022, PDF).
9. [9] Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, Specialties / Specialist Recognition (kmpdc.go.ke/specialties/ redirects here): the List of Recognised Specialties and Subspecialties 2024 and the guidelines for recognition, 'provided that they meet the requirements for registration and recognition to practice in Kenya'; recognition on the approved disciplines applies with immediate effect, the List's minimum training durations apply to practitioners graduating after 31 December 2025, and post-training practice is supervised by recognised specialists or subspecialists. kmpdc.go.ke.
10. [10] University of Nairobi, Department of Psychiatry, Master of Medicine Degree in Psychiatry (M.Med psych.): 'a three-year fulltime study by clinical work, coursework, dissertation and examination', at least two of those years in an East African medical institution recognised by Senate; the three admission conditions; internship 'in a medical institution approved by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board of Kenya' with the applicant 'registered or qualified to be registered by the Board'; bedside teaching, full-time hospital employment, lectures of no more than two hours a day; and the fee schedule, whose Year 1 column alone is stamped 2023.2024 and whose printed grand total is 1,076,000.00. psychiatry.uonbi.ac.ke.
11. [11] University of Nairobi, Department of Psychiatry, Master of Science Degree in Clinical Psychology: two academic years of six fifteen-week semesters; face-to-face, open distance and e-learning, and blended modes; admission on a first degree in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing or veterinary medicine, or an upper second class degree in psychology, counselling psychology, sociology or social work, or a pass degree with relevant experience; compulsory practicals. psychiatry.uonbi.ac.ke.
12. [12] Moi University, School of Medicine, Departments: the School's department list, which includes a Mental Health department; the Department of Behavioural Science (established 1998; BSc Medical Psychology with Maastricht University; MSc Clinical Psychology); and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology's statement that it trains into 'Master of Medicine (MMed) courses in Mental Health, Reproductive Health, Anaesthesiology and Critical care and Internal Medicine'. The page carries older wording (its MSc line reads 'will commence in the fall of 2019'), so confirm intakes with the School. som.mu.ac.ke.
13. [13] Kenyatta University, Doctor of Philosophy (Counseling Psychology): blended delivery, sixty per cent face to face and forty per cent online; admission on a master's in counselling psychology, clinical psychology, guidance and counselling or counsellor education with a B average, plus specified master's units; and two supervised internship semesters, the first clinical. ku.ac.ke.
14. [14] University of Nairobi, Department of Sociology, Social Work and African Women Studies, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work: forty-one taught courses of forty-five contact hours each plus three practicum courses; 'not less than 1200 hours of field Practicum', each practicum course ten weeks of external agency attachment; entry routes of a KCSE mean grade of C+ or equivalent, C- with a certificate and diploma, or a recognised diploma with an aggregate C at KCSE; approved by Senate in 1976. Two limits of this source explain the page's wording: its structure section names four years but gives no year or semester count and labels the fourth-year second block 'Semester 1' twice, and its admissions list is a Faculty of Arts list carrying rows for other degrees. sociology.uonbi.ac.ke.
15. [15] Kenya Medical Training College, Academic Programmes: diploma level: Occupational Therapy; Registered Nursing Mental Health & Psychiatry. Higher diploma level: Psychiatric Nursing; Occupational Therapy (Renal Rehabilitation); Community Based Rehabilitation (Occupational Therapy). The summary requirements table gives diploma entry at a 'KCSE mean grade of C (or equivalent)', duration '3 years except Community Health Nursing which lasts 3 1/2 years', and higher diploma entry for 'Holders of basic Diploma in relevant fields and at least a minimum of two years working experience', duration '1 year'. Campuses and course-specific requirements are in the Academic Programmes Booklet. kmtc.ac.ke.
16. [16] Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, School of Medicine, Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy: 'B.Sc. in Occupational Therapy - Direct Entry (4 Years)' on a KCSE mean grade of C+ with C+ in the biology, chemistry, physics or mathematics and English or Kiswahili cluster, or KACE with two principals including biology and chemistry; and 'Upgrading (3 Years)', diploma and higher diploma holders joining at years two and three, with the conditions that candidates 'MUST be registered with the respective National professional bodies' and 'Foreign trained Therapists must be registered with their respective professional associations in their respective countries of training'. jkuat.ac.ke.
17. [17] Universities Act, Cap. 210 (originally enacted 2012), Kenya Law. s.4 (the Commission for University Education); s.5(1), functions to accredit universities, regulate university education, and 'recognize and equate degrees, diplomas and certificates conferred or awarded by foreign universities'; the definition of programmes accreditation; s.5(3) (the Commission is 'the only body with the power to perform the functions set out in this section'); s.5A (this Act prevails on approval or accreditation of university academic programmes, that accreditation is the Commission's exclusive mandate, and the Commission may consult the professional regulator). kenyalaw.org.
18. [18] Kenya National Qualifications Authority, Alignment and Validation of Qualifications: alignment and validation into the KNQF of qualifications awarded by foreign universities and awarding bodies under s.10(1) of the KNQF Regulations 2018; the certification, translation, affidavit and postgraduate signature-page requirements; the stated portal qa.knqa.go.ke and contact rev@knqa.go.ke; and fees of KES 5,000 for alignment for citizens and KES 10,000 for foreigners, KES 1,000 for validation for citizens and KES 3,000 for foreigners, plus KES 50 per transaction. Fees as published on that page, read August 2026. knqa.go.ke.
19. [19] Kenya National Qualifications Authority, Services: the KNQF Act No. 22 of 2014 as the Authority's establishing statute, and the Certificate of Qualifications Equivalence described as awarded to an institution, assessment or examination body that seeks to introduce and award a foreign qualification in Kenya. knqa.go.ke.
20. [20] National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse Act, Act No. 14 of 2012 (Cap. 122), Kenya Law: assented 24 July 2012, commenced 14 August 2012; long title, an Act to establish an institutional framework for the control of alcohol and drug abuse and for the formulation and implementation of policy. kenyalaw.org.
21. [21] Kenya National Examinations Council, Who we are: a State corporation established under the Kenya National Examinations Council Act No. 29 of 2012, which repealed and replaced Cap. 225A of 1980; and the Council's published Guidelines on Equation of Foreign Certificates. knec.ac.ke; knec.ac.ke (guidelines, PDF).
22. [22] University of Nairobi, Recognition, Equation and Verification of Foreign Qualifications: the University's instruction that KNQA 'has moved its Recognition, Equation and Verification services to a NEW PLATFORM', that applicants create a profile and apply at rev.knqa.go.ke, and that equation certificates be emailed to the Academic Registrar. academics.uonbi.ac.ke.