- Dickson Oigara has called for fair bursary allocation and stronger investment in rural schools.
- He says needy learners should receive support regardless of political affiliation, clan or background.
- Oigara also proposes an education trust fund if elected Bomachoge Borabu MP in 2027.
Mombasa-based businessman Dickson Oigara has praised residents of Kiru village for mobilising resources to start schools during the early years that produced great scholars from the area.
He praised the late Mama Hellen Onduso, whom he called a champion of education promotion, and asked her remaining children to emulate her.
“Your mother has slept, but you can only live her life by embracing her community service in the promotion of education,” he said.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of Mama Hellen Onduso at Kiru village in Bomachoge Borabu, Oigara, who has shown interest in the Bomachoge Borabu parliamentary seat in 2027, criticised past and current leadership over what he described as bias in the issuance of bursary funds and distribution of education infrastructure.
He claimed that many bright children from poor families in Kiru, Magena and Kenyenya have dropped out of school not because they lack ability, but because bursaries are awarded on political loyalty and clanism instead of genuine need.
“Education cannot be politicised. When you deny a child bursary because his parents did not vote for you, you kill the future of an entire village,” Oigara said.
Oigara asked residents to elect leaders who genuinely care about their children’s education and explained what, in his view, defines good political leadership in education development.
He said a good leader is a mobiliser of resources rather than a divider. Just as Mama Hellen Onduso mobilised parents in the 1970s and 1980s to mould bricks and build classrooms when the government had forgotten the area, a good leader today should bring together NG-CDF, the county government, NGOs and private partners to put up modern classrooms, laboratories and libraries.
Such a leader, he said, must champion fairness and transparency in bursary allocation.
Oigara proposed that bursary lists be published openly at chiefs’ offices and in churches, and vetted by a committee of parents, teachers and clergy instead of political brokers, with orphans and the most needy given priority regardless of clan or party affiliation.
A good leader also understands that schools cannot perform without motivated teachers, he said.
Oigara observed that many rural schools struggle because teachers lack decent housing, support and retraining opportunities. He said a committed MP should push for teacher housing within school compounds, sponsor regular retraining on competency-based learning and digital education, and recognise hardworking teachers to encourage them to remain in rural schools.
Technology and support for girls
He further noted that a true education leader must open up rural schools to technology.
According to him, every primary and secondary school in Bomachoge Borabu should have access to computers, reliable internet and electricity through NG-CDF so that children in Kiru can learn Artificial Intelligence and digital skills just like their counterparts in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Oigara added that protecting the girl child is a core mark of good leadership.
This, he said, includes fighting early marriages, ensuring steady provision of sanitary towels through schools and building safe boarding facilities to keep girls in school.
Above all, he said a good political leader must be accessible and accountable — one who visits schools, listens to headteachers, parents and learners, and gives yearly public accounts of how much education money was received and how it was used.
Without naming the current Bomachoge Borabu MP, Oigara urged residents to work with governments of the day, arguing that divisive politics and activism impoverish residents instead of benefiting them.
“Choose a leader who will build more classrooms than his own houses, a leader who will educate your children before educating his family alone,” he told residents.
He promised that if given a chance in 2027, he would establish a Bomachoge Borabu Education Trust Fund to support needy students from secondary school to university and help retrain teachers.
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The burial was attended by village elders, church leaders and former students of schools that were started through community effort in Kiru.
By Enock Okong’o
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