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The nation woke up the news of the demise of Kenya’s second president Daniel Arap Moi. Among many things, he will be remembered for is his passion for educating the girl child, a significant part of his legacy.
A teacher by profession, the former president pushed parents to take their children to school, paying particular emphasis on the girl child.
According to The Borgen Project, local traditions in rural Kenya put a barrier on the education of young girls, where one in two girls get married by the age of 19.
While still in power, he put up several schools named after him with the majority of them being girls’ schools. The former president’s efforts didn’t stop after he left power. In a 2015 prize-giving and prayer day at Emining Boys High School in 2015, Daniel Arap Moi expressed his dissatisfaction with the way in which girls are treated in relation to education matters.
During his speech, while urging parents to take their daughters to school, he said, "When you educate a boy, you educate an individual, but when you educate a girl, then you are educating a family". He wondered who the highly educated men would marry if the girls were forced to stay in the village without an education.
He didn’t stop at that. The former head of state went further challenging women to get up and take on serious leadership positions, saying that these positions were not reserved for men alone.
His delight in seeing women excel in education and beyond will always be remembered.
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