Former students of St. Ignatius Mukumu Boys High School will converge at the school on Tuesday, July 14, to mark the feast of their patron saint, pray with this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates and their families, and launch an endowment fund aimed at supporting needy students.
The gathering will bring together generations shaped by the Catholic institution’s six-decade academic tradition, with the school’s planning committee, chaired by the Western region director of social services, confirming on Friday that a fundraiser to seed the endowment kitty will close out the day’s programme.
The Board of Management (BoM) chair, Rev. Fr. Leonard Nyongesa Lwengele, said the school had moved its St. Ignatius Day celebrations forward from the customary date of July 31 to allow the school community to properly honour its patron saint before the end of the second term.
“The St. Ignatius Day is an annual celebration on July 31st in this school. But this year, the term two school calendar ends July 30th. So we have three events on card, the St. Ignatius Day, the prayer day for the KCSE candidates and the fund raiser to assist students from underprivileged homes with fees,” Lwengele said.
Bishop of Kakamega Diocese Rt. Rev. Joseph Obanyi Sagwe will preside over the day’s events, conducting a holy mass and formally commissioning the school’s 2026 KCSE candidates, Lwengele added.
Lwengele said the saint’s legacy is built on two pillars that the school has sought to embody ever since: academic excellence and spiritual formation, which he described as the twin principles underpinning Mukumu Boys’ mission of producing both high-achieving students and principled leaders.
Nicholas Liseche, a retired school principal who now chairs the Mukumu Old Boys Association, called on alumni to turn out in force for the fundraiser, framing it as an opportunity to give back by helping bright but financially disadvantaged learners meet their school fees obligations.
The harambee will be presided over by Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, himself an old boy of the school, who will be assisted by his Kakamega counterpart, Governor Fernandes Barasa.
Also expected to grace the fundraiser are Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula, Shinyalu Member of Parliament Fred Ikana, and alumnus Prof. John Wesonga, among other dignitaries and former students.
By Douglas Simiyu
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