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Maranda High School was established in November 1919 by the late Shadrack Osewe Agot.
Osewe, then a divinity teacher at Kapiyo village in Bondo District, approached Amolo Raila, Raila Odinga's grandfather, for land to set up the school.
He first built his house, then followed it with a church. Osewe's first pupils comprised the elderly, who were taught how to read, write, as well as Christianity.
In 1926, formal elementary education was started with the assistance of the Church Missionary Society (CMS).
Those who taught under the guidance of Osewe included Ibrahim Odinga, whose salary was Sh6.
Between 1927 and 1928, the school was turned into a boarding school.
The school which is about five kilometres from Bondo town, came to prominence for its good performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KSCE).
According to a list provided by Maranda High School Alumni Association, nearly half of the teachers at the school are also old boys. At Maranda, individual classes are managed as mini-schools with their own 'head teachers.'
Opposition chief and National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Amolo Odinga learnt at the school in 1962, alongside his brother Dr Oburu Oginga.
Other alumni include: The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Karachuonyo MP James Rege, Justice Nicholas Ombija, the late towering internal security assistant minister Orwa Ojode aka 'Sirkal,' preacher PC Peter Raburu, Chairperson of the Commission on Administrative Justice, Otiende Amollo, as well as celebrated journalists David Ohito, Isaac Omulo Okoth, John Lawrence and Bethwel Oduo.
