Elusive justice spurs a deferred dream

Business

By WAIRIMU KAMANDE

The grey-haired bespectacled man looks out of place as he keenly follows instructions from the smartly dressed man, who can easily pass for his grandson.

His desire to excel is evident from the attention that he pays the invigilator, the answer-sheet held tightly on a clipboard.

The venue is St Patrick’s Primary School in Thika, one of the centres for the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination.

Allan Njoroge, 86, is among the more than 746,000 candidates taking national examinations and is probably the oldest pupil to sit for KCPE.

Dressed in a neat black suit and with a polished walking stick, the elderly man travelled from Gatundu North and turned up early for the exam at the school in Thika town on Tuesday.

Unperturbed by the presence of fellow candidates young enough to be his grandchildren, the old man patiently waited and keenly followed instructions, as the exam invigilators took them through the procedures.

Dream deferred

Mr Njoroge says he always desired to attain education up to the university level, but his ambition was interrupted when a State of Emergency was declared in Kenya in the 1952.

“I had gone up to Standard Five at the PCEA Mang’u Primary School, and then transferred to Kanjeria Primary School for Standard Six in 1950.

Unfortunately, that was the time all independent schools were closed and a State of Emergency later declared. I dropped out of school and joined the Mau Mau fighters to fight for freedom,” Njoroge says.

Allan Njoroge in the exam room this week. At 86, he is the oldest pupil to sit for the national exam, which he hopes will open doors to his deferred dream of a career in law. [PHOTO: WAIRIMU KAMANDE/STANDARD]

He says he moved on, married and concentrated on fending for his family.

“Education is the only thing one can acquire and not be disinherited. I gave priority to giving my children education. My last born is a student at Kenyatta University now,” the father of eight says proudly, adding that all his children have at least attained secondary education.

Once certain that the future of his offspring was secure, the Gatundu farmer says he decided to return to school and enrolled in Mungai Primary School in 2008, where he repeated Class Six.

He has been at the institution for two years.

And since he was registered as a private candidate, he has to sit for the examination at St Patrick’s, which is the only centre for such candidates in the larger Thika District.

Despite his advanced age, Njoroge is not short of ambition. He says he has always wished to study law and become a judge.

His aspiration is to be the Chief Justice.

“I wish to deliver justice to all Kenyans as many of us lack confidence in our judicial system. It is corrupt,” he says.

That dream, of course, may be out of reach as the old man is past the stipulated age of 74.

Njoroge says he lost his 2.8 acre piece of land unjustly.

Mysterious transfer

“We had gone to court over the piece of land with a relative of mine, but at the conclusion of the case, we found out that it had mysteriously been transferred to a third person who was unknown to us,” he says.

Njoroge says he sees no reason why the youth should drop out of school or why men and women as old as he is should not go back to school to actualise their potential.

“There should be no age limit for being in school. It should be open to whenever one feels like,” he says.

Njoroge laments the rate at which male youth in Central Province drop out of school and abuse alcohol.

“It is a matter of concern that alcohol has reduced them to zombies, who cannot do anything meaningful for themselves or the society,” says the teetotaller.

 

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