- Jane Wambui Muthoni’s dream of studying law nearly faded after financial hardship kept her from university.
- The Nyeri teenager has now secured a full TechSheria Scholarship to pursue law at Zetech University.
- Her award gives her another chance to pursue advocacy, justice and community service ambitions.
For Jane Wambui Muthoni, an 18-year-old from Nyeri County, stepping into a higher learning institution had remained a dream that was slowly fading nearly a year after completing her secondary school education.
Wambui sat for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) at Mugoiri Girls Secondary School in Murang’a County and scored a B (Plus). This raised her spirits and kept her dream of becoming a lawyer alive.
However, owing to her humble background, her dreams came to a halt as her mother, who is a single parent, could not raise the resources required for her to proceed to a higher learning institution.
The burden of putting food on the table as well as paying rent for their single-room house became unbearable for her mother, forcing Wambui to start doing menial jobs, including working as a “mama fua” in their locality, to help her mother with bills.
Her dream of becoming a lawyer became increasingly unrealistic, and day by day, all she could do was work to support her mother and sibling.
“My mum had already given me this idea that we should first raise school fees for my younger brother and later try the same for me. I knew I wouldn’t join campus and that I’d be a mama fua for life. It’s not a bad thing to do but I felt it wasn’t the best thing for me,” she said.
Dream of studying law
Initially, Wambui received a calling letter from the Technical University of Mombasa for a course she did not want to disclose, though she hinted that it was related to biology.
She kept the letter with no hope of joining any institution of higher learning.
“Biology has not been my thing since high school and even if it was, I couldn’t join TUM because of financial hiccups. My passion has been law and I still hung on to the hope that one day a miracle would happen and I’d join a law school to pursue my dreams,” she told the writer.
She divulged that she was stressed after she started doing odd jobs at an early age, bearing in mind that she had excelled in her secondary school education.
“I was at crossroads. My mother was expecting me to assist her in putting food on the table while, on the other hand, I had dreams to chase. This really stressed me out,” she noted.
Wambui is passionate about practising law as a tool to advocate for justice, mental wellbeing and the rights of young people in the community and the country at large.
While in high school, she was crowned Miss Mugoiri Girls Wellness and Contentment, through which she championed mental health awareness among high school girls by organising awareness talks, peer discussions and related content.
Wambui is now relieved and can pursue her career dreams after landing a scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Laws degree at Zetech University.
She is among three beneficiaries of the university’s TechSheria Scholarship Programme.
The outgoing young law enthusiast could not hide her joy as she stepped into the university to begin what could change her life and that of her family.
“I never dreamt of such a day and I’m grateful for this rare and noble opportunity,” she said.
Zetech University Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academics, Research and Student Affairs Prof Alice Njuguna described Wambui as a debater, public speaker and peer counsellor who will bring strong advocacy, communication and empathy skills to her legal education.
“Her aspiration to become a lawyer who not only argues in court but also educates, counsels and serves the community makes her a deserving recipient of the TechSheria Scholarship,” Prof Njuguna said.
She reiterated that the scholarship seeks to support talented students while advancing a broader vision of producing lawyers who understand not only the law, but also the technological and entrepreneurial environment in which the law increasingly operates.
“The scholarship provides 100 per cent tuition support for the approved Bachelor of Laws programme, for the prescribed duration, subject to the scholarship’s terms and the student’s continued academic and administrative compliance,” she said.
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Romney Okello and Nelson Muuo also benefited from the scholarships and were encouraged to take advantage of all resources availed by the university to make their dreams a reality.
By John Kamau
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