This archive report was first published on 31 August 2021.
On Monday, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha led a multi-sectoral team in a door-to-door campaign in Baringo County to search for Standard Eight leavers who were yet to report to secondary school.
During the visit, Prof Magoha toured two homesteads in Kaprogonya and Kapkut in the outskirts of Kabarnet town and enrolled four needy pupils in the area who were yet to report to secondary school because of lack of fees at Kituro High School in Baringo Central.
He confirmed that their four-year learning would be funded by the State.
After the visit, the CS went to the office of Baringo county commissioner Henry Wafula where he asked Mr Ololtuaa when he last toured the area.
"When did you last visit this region to assess what is happening in our schools?" asked the CS.
Mr Ololtuaa responded that it had been a while since he made a visit to Baringo, but had made visits to other counties in his area of jurisdiction.
Prof Magoha was irked by the response and lashed out, questioning his failure to tour the county, one of the 14 in the expansive Rift Valley.
"And you are coming here for the first time, let that nonsense stop because I will not take it. If you want to resign and go into politics then do so now. You must make sure that you are available in the field because you are in charge of all counties in the Rift Valley unless you delegated that to someone else," Prof Magoha said.
Prof Magoha defended his questioning of the officer in public, saying such matters -- visiting schools and assessing the level of education -- must always be in the open.
He complained that Rift Valley region was still lagging behind in the 100 percent transition of form ones, with enrolment standing at 84 percent.
"The government has employed people to work. I want those concerned to make sure the 20 percent of learners that are yet to report to school in Baringo to be in their respective institutions by Friday. These are some of the reasons that make me want to get out of office and visit schools because I do not trust my field officers," said Prof Magoha.
