- Enock Okong’o reflects on a Mathematics and Chemistry teacher whose career spanned nearly four decades.
- Makori served in several schools, rising from classroom teacher to Head of Department and principal.
- His retirement celebration brought together family, colleagues, alumni and communities touched by his service.
He walked precisely for 37 years, not on the road but in the teaching career that called for practicals and exactness. Teaching Mathematics and Chemistry. That is teacher Lawrence Ntabo Makori.
For nearly four decades, he did not just teach subjects. He taught precision, discipline, and the value of hard work. In the laboratory, he taught that a small mistake in measurement could spoil a whole experiment. In Mathematics, he taught that there is always a correct answer if you follow the process. That was his philosophy in class and in life — exactness, order, and faithfulness to duty.
His journey in education saw him serve in different schools, moulding thousands of learners and teachers. He served as a classroom teacher, Head of Department, and later as a firm and focused Principal in various institutions. Among the schools that bear his mark are Riokindo, Nyakorere, Nyataro SDA, Kenyenya, Gitono and St Andrews Nyabigege, his retirement school. In all these stations, he left behind strong academic results, disciplined students, and grateful parents.
On Friday, his long walk of service was celebrated in a befitting send-off. His retirement ceremony was held at Simba Hill Hotel in Kisii, where friends, colleagues, family, and education stakeholders gathered to honour him. The hall was full of testimonies. Former students spoke of how he made difficult topics simple. Fellow teachers spoke of a colleague who never compromised on standards. Education officers spoke of a principal who understood both policy and practice.
His last sentence on the podium summed up everything: “God did it.” It was not pride. It was gratitude. Gratitude for 37 years of grace, health, and service without blemish.
And in a very touching moment, he was literally coloured with ribbons, like a bridegroom being crowned for honour, as his wife Linet Makori sat beside him admiring him. In her eyes were fond memories — memories of when he not only courted her but also wedded her in the SDA Church.
With a smile full of nostalgia, she said, “Those are old days and now we have adult children, but still today I have it kindled in my heart, indeed God did it.”
The hall burst into laughter and applause. It was love, refined by time, still burning.
From Simba Hill Hotel, a colourful procession escorted him to his Kabosi home in Nyaribari Chache Constituency. Cars hooted. Songs filled the air. Villagers lined up to welcome their hero home.
Alumni and colleagues celebrate Makori
At Kabosi, the celebrations continued with Christian choirs lifting their voices in praise and thanksgiving. Alumni from different schools he taught came in numbers, some now teachers, doctors, engineers, and business people — living proof of his work.
Various representatives from schools where he served — Riokindo, Nyakorere, Nyataro SDA, Kenyenya, Gitono and St Andrews Nyabigege — gave moving tributes, recounting how he built academic culture and shaped character.
Food was eaten in plenty, all young and old. The climax came when a colourful cake was cut with chimes from the female youths, whistles from male youths as women ululated amid male teachers who clapped their hands with mirth — Lawrence Makori is a jolly Principal and has retired well. They moved in a single file as each tasted the cake.
Then came the most symbolic moment. Home and church elders crowned him with a hat and handed him a walking stick as tools of initiating him into an elder and community shepherd, a mark of continuity of leadership.
He was no longer just retiring from school. He was being officially ushered into elderhood, to sit at the gate, to guide, to counsel, and to shepherd the community.
‘We will serve the Lord’
Lawrence Makori grew in a Christian home and promised to continue to serve God as a church elder. In his solemn appreciation to God, he stood, raised his Bible, and quoted the book of Joshua: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” — Joshua 24:15.
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And all said Amen. I, the writer of this too, said I concur.
By Enock Okong’o
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