On 20 November 2018, Joshua Kabaka Angwekwe emerged as one of the standout performers in the KCPE after scoring 446 marks, finishing just seven marks behind the country’s top scorer.
The pupil’s results drew attention because of the difficult road he took to the exam room. Angwekwe, who was born in Kakamega in 2003 and is the eighth born in a family of 11 children, said his schooling began in Kibera at a public school before an NGO briefly sponsored him and later sent him away in 2012.
He told The Standard that life in Kibera was marked by hunger and survival work. “My life in Kibera has not been easy, we slept hungry many times. I sold scrap metal to get money for food,” he said.
Angwekwe said he nearly dropped out of school because of peer pressure. In 2013, Wanawake kwa Wanawake stepped in, took him in and sent him back to school.
Leonida Kwamboka, the director of the NGO, said the boy had always shown promise and discipline. “We saw the boy’s potential and knew he would perform well in his studies,” she said.
Kwamboka added that after two schools he had joined were closed down, the organisation enrolled him at Ruden Junior Academy in Lavington, where he sat the exam.
The result placed Angwekwe among the top candidates in the 2018 KCPE and highlighted the role of sustained support in keeping him in school despite repeated setbacks.
