- Simon Rotich Piro was a former Senior Principal of Ortum Boys and Kapenguria Boys High Schools.
- Piro has been remembered as a pioneering businessman who opened Makutano town’s first bookshop and as a successful maize farmer.
- Friends and family are gathering at his Lityei village home to plan his burial, which has been scheduled for Saturday.
West Pokot County has been thrown into mourning following the death of Simon Rotich Piro, former Senior Principal of Ortum Boys Secondary School and Kapenguria Boys High School, whose passing has left a deep void among residents and the teaching fraternity in the region.
Piro grew up in Tartar, where he attended Tartar Primary School before joining Chewoyet Boys National School. As one of the top-performing students from Pokot land, he proceeded to Njoro Boys School for his ‘A’ Level education, after which he was admitted to the Kenya Science Teachers College, an institution renowned for producing some of the country’s best science teachers.
He was among a small group of Pokot students at the college, alongside Abraham Rotich, who retired as a District Education Officer; Charles Chedotum, who retired as a Senior TSC Officer; and Stephen Nalelia, who retired as Senior Principal at Machakos Teachers Training College.
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After his tenure at Kapenguria Boys Secondary School, Piro turned to business and farming. He also served for many years as Board of Management Chairman at Nasokol Girls Secondary School.
He has been described as a pioneering businessman in Makutano town, having opened the first bookshop in the area to supply schools across West Pokot County with books and learning materials. He was also known as a successful maize farmer.
“He was a successful businessman in Makutano town, as he was the first person to open a bookshop that supplied schools across the county with books, teaching and learning materials. He was also a great maize farmer in the county,” said Augustine Psinen, a retired Agricultural Finance Corporation officer in the Rift Valley region and Piro’s schoolmate at Chewoyet Boys National School.
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Mike Lorot, a family member and retired Senior KNUT Officer at the KNUT headquarters, said the death is a great loss to the residents of West Pokot County.
Friends and relatives have been meeting daily at his home in Lityei village to finalise burial arrangements, with the funeral scheduled for Saturday. The late Piro was a member of ACK St. Paul’s Lityei Parish Church.
By Martin Ruto
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