Bright Turkana boy wants to be engineer

The Turkana boy whose poor background and lack of school fees to join the prestigious Kapsabet Boys High School touched the hearts of Kenyans wants to be an engineer to assist his community. 

Fred Ekiru Amurio, 14, who was facing a bleak future has a reason to smile after well-wishers came to his rescue and paid his school fees for the whole year. 

“I don’t take Kenyans’ support for granted. I promise to work hard and assist my poor family,” the soft-spoken Amurio told People Daily in an interview. 

He said his family was adversely affected after his elder brother was killed and livestock stolen following a banditry attack in 2021.

Ekiru says many parts of Turkana county grapple with a lot of challenges including poor roads network and perennial food shortages, which he noted requires a long-term solution.

In a story, which touched the country after it went viral on social media, the boy is seen in a photo taken at the school with his aging parents clad in their traditional regalia. 

Ekiru’s hopes were rekindled after a group of women well-wishers raised money for his school fees. 

According to Nelpha Chebichii Murrey who was among a group of five ladies who came up with the idea to create a WhatsApp group to collect money in aid of the bright boy, theirs was just to assist irrespective if their ethnic affiliations.

She said that they came across the boy’s plight through a Turkana county online platform and decided to assist after they reached out to his sister Anne Amoni.

“We thank God everything went on as planned. We managed to pay all his school fees for the year and half of next year. We will continue to stand with him through his education,” Murrey told People Daily. “We will continue contributing for him until he realizes his academic dreams.”

Wilbert Mutai and Geoffrey Sang are also credited for accommodating the boy and his parents and taking them to school.

Well-wishers contribution

In the initiative, Kenyans from all walks of life contributed whatever they could to ensure the boy joins his dream school.

Ekiru was a pupil at Lokwii primary school in Turkana East where he attained 403 marks out of a possible 500 in the 2021 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

Kapsabet High School principal Kipchumba Maiyo yesterday thanked well wishers for their gesture which saw the boy rekindle hopes of joining the school and later university.

“We are very happy to be associated with the student and thank the well-wishers for their assistance to the needy family.  This was a very needy case which required help at all costs,”Maiyo told People Daily. 

Maiyo stressed the need for needy and bright  students from Asal areas to be identified and assisted with bursaries to continue with their education. 

“They have alot of potential. Another one, also from Turkana County who joined our school with 365 marks cleared last year and scored a straight A,” explained Mutai.

Kapsabet High School was among top performers in the country after all its 461 candidates scored a C+ (plus) and above.

It produced 100 students with A plain, A-(100), B plus (99), B Plain (54) and 12 B- (Minus).

The school had a mean score 10.688 down from 10.5 last year.

According to Maiyo, all the 475 students admitted to the school have reported to take their form one places.

“Thousands of parents have been flocking to the school seeking  new vacancies  which are not available due to the high number of students we admitted,” said Maiyo.