In the midst of a county surrounded by Kenya’s famous Tsavo East and Tsavo West National parks is a community presumed to be rich with valuable minerals such as gemstone and iron ore.
Yet with only a handful of schools, Taita Taveta is a county not well known around academic circles.
However, despite the poverty and hopelessness, there is a vibrant educational rhythm that is taking shape in the recent years, the melody traversing the four sub-counties of Wundanyi, Mwatate, Taveta and Voi.
At the centre of the flickering hope of salvaging the community from poverty are the MPs through the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF).
Mwatate MP Canon Peter Shake, Wundanyi MP Danson Mwashako, Taveta MP John Bwire and Voi MP Khamis Chome are the leaders who in the recent past have teamed up and taken the lead in the war against poverty in the marginalized coastal county. Every little penny in the NGCDF literally goes to education.
According to Shake, all players in the education sector have teamed up to push for quality education in the region, both in primary and secondary schools.
He noted that in order to ensure an independent community in future, there is need for leaders to invest in bright and needy children so that they can come back and change the community.
Speaking a while back in Mwatate during the celebration of the constituency’s Education Day, Shake reiterated the leaders’ commitment to working together to ensure that the war against illiteracy succeeds.
“This year we have increased our bursary allocation. Last year, we disbursed about Ksh39 million. This year we are giving out about Ksh54 million so that we can reach as many children as possible,” he said, urging parents to pull up their socks and pay the balances to keep their children in school.
He noted that in order to get back on track, there is need for a multi-sectoral approach to ensure they get out of their quagmire.
“We have a bigger challenge with our youth especially with the increased use of drugs. I thank God because we have a DCC, OCPD, ACC and the whole security team who have committed to help in fighting this menace,” he said.
The MP vowed not to be cowed by threats by drug dealers as he steps up his fight against the vice, stressing that it is immoral to lead people who have been reduced to zombies by drugs.
Shake noted that as leaders, they are committed to boosting the education sector to make Taita Taveta one of the shining examples of academic revolution.
In Taveta, the area MP John Bwire gave students bicycles, which, according to him has borne fruit as performance in the area has been on the rise.
Bwire stated that last year, together with MCAs and parents, they agreed that no student should remain at home due to lack of fees. They therefore decided to work in partnership whereby they were to jointly pay the fees for the less fortunate in three phases.
As the MP issued a bursary of Ksh6,000, the MCA gave Ksh5,000 as the parents paid the remaining Ksh3,450.
The pilot programme was a success as a total of 282 students continued with their learning uninterrupted. Bwire challenged other leaders to follow suit.
In Voi Constituency, area MP Khamis Chome donated a 46-seater bus to Mwakichuchu Boys to ease transportation of students with the aim of getting good results.
Taita Taveta County Director of Education Khalif Hirey lauded the politicians for holding hands and ensuring the county comes out of the doldrums.
The director noted that the county has improved tremendously in the recently released exams and urged all the education stakeholders to keep working together in order to reap from the efforts being made by the leaders in the region.
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