- Enock Okong’o profiles retired educator Zachary Rioba, popularly known as Omwarimu Esagasaga, and his life after teaching.
- He highlights Rioba’s continuing role in mentorship, community service, radio engagement and preservation of Kisii culture.
- The former school administrator now uses farming and dairy as another platform to inspire young people.
Mzee Zachary Rioba, fondly known as Omwarimu Esagasaga, is a name that resonates across Nyamira and Kisii counties. The retired Chief Principal of Bonyunyu Secondary School is widely known as a man who walks with all people without compromise. In school and in the village, he treated everyone equally, from students and parents to boda boda riders and traders, firm on principles but humble in approach.
In Bonyunyu and around his home in Ntana, parents adore him, which is why they gave him the name Omwarimu Esagasaga. It is a name of respect for a wise and experienced teacher who treated every child as his own. During his time at Bonyunyu, from classroom teacher in the early 2000s to Deputy Principal and later Chief Principal, he led with an open-door and servant-leadership approach that improved both discipline and academic performance.
For more than two decades, he has also been a faithful fan of radio stations in the county. His love for radio and his contributions on air have earned him recognition among radio fans from Nyamira and Kisii counties. Through FM radio, he continues to mentor youth, discuss education matters and promote Kisii culture.
He tells his colleagues that there are many things a teacher can do for the prosperity of the community after retirement as a custodian of knowledge. According to him, retirement is not the end of service but a transition to a wider classroom.
A retired teacher can become a community mentor and counsellor, guiding youth against drugs and early marriages. He can offer private tuition and adult literacy classes to help those who never completed school. He can serve as a peace elder, church leader and mediator in land and family disputes because society trusts his wisdom.
He can also venture into farming, dairy, agribusiness and entrepreneurship, create jobs and model self-reliance, as well as write memoirs and Kisii history to preserve culture for future generations.
Asked what he would do if given a second chance in life, his answer is clear and straight from the heart. He says if he were given a second chance in life, teaching would still take the front line, not only in the classroom but also in life.
For him, teaching never retired.
Today, Omwarimu Esagasaga is settled at his home in Ntana, West Mugirango, where he has embraced farming and dairy as his new classroom.
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He is a model farmer, keeping dairy cows and tending his crops with the same discipline he once used to manage a school. He continues to feed the community and inspire young people that hard work on the land still pays.
We salute you, Omwarimu Esagasaga, Zachary Rioba of Ntana in Nyamira County.
By Enock Okong’o
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