By Andanje Wakhungu
A student who scored grade B in the 2006 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams is still hoping that he will be admitted to university.
Sunday Mulombi opened up for the first time on the predicament that has hindered him to join university for many years.
The 31 year old soft spoken man has seen all that cruelty of life can push one into but continues to harbour hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
He is currently a Jack of all trades in his village and it pains him that close relatives and nighbours gossip about his wasted good exam grades.
They instead assign him to do for then odd jobs ranging from cultivating sugarcane, maize, cane harvesting and constructing structures.
“I do these jobs not because I like it but as the only available option for me because I fend for my mother as myself as my brother who is a Bodaboda rider also helps to put food on the table,” he says.
Mulombi sat for his 2006 examination at Friends Mugai Secondary School in Malava sub county.
He emerged as the best student but could not get financial support to join university and his effort of getting sponsorship has been futile.
“I still aspire to study Building and Construction Engineering at any university that is offering such a course and I appeal to any well-wishers to assist and then I will repay them when I secure a job, ” says Mulombi.
He left home after failing to get necessary assistance from the then MP the late area Soita Shitanda and some close relatives found himself in Mombasa in 2012.
Mulombi got a casual job through the help of some friends at a confectionary company which ended after some time, forcing him to work at building site.
He then moved to Export Processing Zone (EPZ) factories before the outbreak if Covid- 19 forced most companies to lay off staffs, forcing him to return home and start a fresh.
“I tried to engage the MP Soita Shitanda many times but he always kept telling ne to repeat form four,” he said.
Even some of his relatives who are in a positions of assisting him have always been elusive with a lot of empty promises that never materialized.
His father died in 2005 and it took a lot of sacrifice from his mother who is a housewife to pay for his school fees for the two years.
“His death destabilized the family and we are now a laughing stock as I know had he been alive I could not be here working for the villagers,” he regrets.
Mulombi says sometimes the villagers do even pay him fully as agreed after finishing their errands and instead ridicule him on how he went to school to score a B and now cultivates their shambas.
“I’m hoping that someone out there will hear my plea and come to my rescue as I really want to prove my society wrong that I’m an educated failure and assure them that God’s time will come,” he says..
The passion to continue with his education is still strong despite staying out of class for years and he promises that given the chance he will excel in his studies at the university.
“I know that the current MP Malulu Injendi has the CDF kitty, same to the County government that has bursaries and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) which can assist and so they should please consider me,” he pleads
He is not ready to start a family just yet because he does not have the means but is assured that he will accomplish his dream after which then God will provide the right partner for him.
Mulombi can be reached through mobile phone number 0716748833
