Top KCPE pupil resorts to herding to raise fees

Brian Kaino holds a kid as he leads the family's only goat at their home in Chesongoch, Elgeyo Marakwet County.[Kevin Tunoi, Standard]

In a region dogged by incessant cattle rustling, Brian Kaino, an orphan, defied all odds to score 415 marks in this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam.

His good performance placed him right on course to attaining his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon.

The joy of being among the top performers in the country has now turned into sorrow as he lacks fees to enable him join Kapsabet Boys in Nandi County, another stepping stone towards his journey to becoming a neurosurgeon.

With only about a fortnight to school admission, the boy, an orphan from an impoverished family who is currently under the guardianship of his ageing grandparents in Chesongoch vilage in Marakwet East, is worried.

Brian, who topped at Toroko Primary School, is now balancing between hawking mangoes and herding villagers’ livestock to make some money ahead of schools reopening early next month.

He has to raise Sh53,000 for the year but Sh26,700 is required for the first term.

This amount is exclusive of the money required for his shopping.

Brian hawks mangoes at the nearby trading centres, where he is given a commission in return.

The Standard came face to face with the sad tale of the bright boy’s predicament when we visited his grandparents’ home at the hilly and rocky terrain in Elgeyo escarpment

Navigating through harsh terrain with the searing heat is not for the faint-hearted.

He has just returned from the escarpment herding goats belonging to a neighbour with a kid and a stick in his hands.

Joy short-lived

“I’m supposed to report to school early January but my biggest worry now is how to raise the fees and fulfill my dream. What I am praying for now is a guardian angel to take me to school,” said Kaino, 14.

He says his joy of brilliant performance in the KCPE exams was short-lived after it dawned on him that his grandparents would not raise the high school fees.

He is now appealing for well-wishers to make his dream come true.

The boy’s predicament has also been worsened by the unending cattle raids in the Kerio Valley with gunshots being the order of the day.

The same predicament of lack of school fees is facing 15-year-old Benedetta Mrass, a former pupil at Langata Barracks who is seeking assistance to enable her join Precious Blood Girls School Riruta.

The girl, who resides in Langata Raila Village, Nairobi, scored 356 in KCPE exam.

She is the fourth-born in a family of nine children and her parents depend on menial jobs to meet the basic needs.

The girl’s father, Samson Otieno, a construction worker, is appealing to well-wishers to help her daughter join Form One. [Additional reporting by Caroline Nyanga]