New man Machogu has big shoes to fill as he takes Education mantle from Gusii heavyweights

Ezekiel Machogu could be another man from Gusii region to watch in President William Ruto's Administration following his nomination as Cabinet Secretary for Education.

Machogu becomes the sixth individual from the larger Gusii Region to be appointed to the Education docket which has become one of the most powerful dockets in Government.

Lawrence Sagini, the first Minister for Education from Kisii at Independence, followed by the late James Nyamweya as Minster of Labour and Education and later on Dr Zachary Onyonka. Prof Sam Ongeri could later on also be appointed as Minister for education under the late President Mwai Kibaki's regime and Dr Fred Matiang'i under retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Notably, the late Sagini, Prof Ongeri and Machogu reside in Borabu settlement scheme in a radius of less than three kilometres apart while Dr Matiangi resides in the same area, less than 10 kilometres away. Part of Nyamweya and Onyonka families also reside in the same settlement scheme.

Machogu and Ongeri also hail from the same clan in Gesusu village in Nyaribari Masaba.

He unsuccessfully vied for the Kisii Governor seat on the UDA party ticket and lost to ODM's Simba Arati.

He mounted a spirited campaign for his bid and that of President Ruto despite having complained of harassment and intimidation from State agencies. During his tenure as MP Nyaribari Masaba (2017-2022), Machogu was credited for having funded a number of schools in his Constituency to completion.

The Education docket nominee takes over the ministry at a time when the country is facing a defining moment in the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum. After being sworn in, President Ruto said he will put in place a task force to collect views from education stakeholders on the way forward. This followed an outcry on how CBC was being implemented.

The Education sector has been allocated a total of Sh544.4b in the financial year 2022/23. Of this, Sh12b has been set aside for Free Primary Education and Sh2.5b will be used to recruit teachers while Sh64.4b will cater for the free day of secondary school education. Five billion shillings exams waiver for Grade Six, Standard Eight and Form Four students, Sh7.96b will cater to the school feeding programme, Sh1.2b for the training of teachers on the Competency-Based Curriculum and Sh310m for the digital literacy program and ICT integration in secondary schools.

Four billion shillings will support the Government's plan to construct more classrooms and Sh294.7 billion has been allocated to the Teachers Service Commission. University education and Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) have been allocated Sh91.2b and Sh15.8b respectively.

On his nomination, locals and other leaders from the Gusii region thanked President Ruto for the appointment saying the community stood a chance to gain from the current regime. Kisii former Governor James Ongwae said Machogu is a highly respected member of the community and a long-term career civil servant.