MP Kaluma and Governor Obado are among the alumni of St Joseph’s School Rapogi

St Joseph’s School Rapogi in Sare, Migori County, was founded by Catholic missionaries in 1961. The school was privately ran before  the state took over.

The provincial school is one of the academic giants in southern Nyanza, beating perennial big timers, Maseno School, Maranda High School and St Mary’s School Yala to top the 2004 KCSE exams in Nyanza.

The school, nicknamed ‘Raps,’ has alumni who call themselves ‘Rhapsody Boys,’ most of whom endured blistering canes, beatings using Bunsen burner cables and rough wood.

A female teacher would warn: “That boy kneeling on the wall (sic)”...you will go home and bring a whole gallon of paint,” which was not taken for granted.

Then there were teachers who, after going abroad, would regale the assembly with their long tales, like the one who went to America and narrated how Mississippi River is the longest river in the USA, as students listened, as if watching a NatGeo documentary.

Former Migori MP John Pesa joined St Joseph’s Rapogi in 1964 and later returned as a teacher and principal before his entry into politics.

Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno joined ‘Raps’ in 1962 before Migori Governor Okoth Obado joined a year later. Obado also returned to teach at Raps. 

Other notable alumni guided by the motto, “Sharpening for the Future,” include Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, Strathmore University dean of student Paul Ochieng, and advocate-cum-writer Alfred Ochieng (Koffide).

Others who wore white shirts (but prefects donned blue shirts), green pullovers and light-brown trousers are Citizen TV reporter Tobias Belleh, BBC reporter Ferdinand Omondi and radio presenter Bill Odidi.

The school’s other alumni who slept at Ngala and Mboya dormitories include Coca-Cola PR officer Bob Okello,  associate advocate at Kaplan and Stratton Steve Kotonya, and Commonwealth Youth Council’s leader Kiziah Philbert.

Also at the school were digital editor at CCTV Africa, Omondi Jerry and Maseno University mathematical programmer, Milton Matta.

— James Mwangi