A lot of things happened in Jamhuri this week and Kenyans will pay attention to those events.
There was the complete mess in Nakuru at the Kenya National Drama Festival where Butere Girls High School were kicked out and stopped from showing the nation their play entitled “Echoes of War”.
That was just sad for everybody and stupid for the government.
Butere Girls has just delivered a play more powerful than “Echoes of War”
Then there was the burial of the beloved George Oduor, Raila Odinga’s security chief in Ndori in Siaya county attended by President William Ruto, Raila Odinga and so many other politicians from all over the country. That too caught the attention of Kenyans everywhere.
The one thing that caught my attention the most was that President Ruto announced that he is giving Sh. 20 million to Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo who was at the event to build Ramba Boys High School where the funeral services for George Oduor was held because the guy is from the area.
Otiende Amolo should ask Raila Odinga and the county government as well as other politicians to add money to President Ruto’s contribution to help build Ramba Boys High School into a spectacular academy for the boys and for the region. Just make sure that money does not go into waste with some little building where people claim that is what Sh. 20 million built. Make an example of what can be done with some money.
In fact Otiende Amolo should hold a fundraising event in honour of George Oduor at Ramba Boys High School right at the school and he could raise another Sh. 20 million or more and build great things in the school. I will personally contribute the little money I have for that.
I know Ramba Boys High School very well and that is for good things and bad things. I will start with the bad ones.
Growing up I was a student at Chianda Boys High School which is not far from Ramba School. We were in Uyoma while Ramba is in Asembo but in sports which we loved very much at school we had to play against Ramba to move forward.
Me I was a hockey player and proudly the captain of the Chianda Boys team but we had a football team that was the heart of our school in sports. The problem was that our football team had to face Ramba Boys team and they were a pain in the neck and very hard to beat.
We had one the best football players in any school, the late Harris Okong’o Arara who died after Moi put him in prison for years when he became an activist for a free Kenya. We still had to fight hard to beat Ramba boys.
In hockey we just walked over them but in football it was tough and then after that we had to face Maranda Boys High School which was a complete nightmare. I think as students we enjoyed the sports more than being in class.
Then a few years ago I was at Ramba Boys High School to visit one of my young nephews who is a student there. He is crazy about football and him and my son were running around in the school and they went to the football pitch and when I followed them I was horrified to see that the entire football field is covered in dirt and dust and there is no grass. I asked the young boy how they play football there and he told me that is all they have.
Now on the good part Ramba Boys High School is in a great location just a few miles from Ndori township and market.
For us as students in Chianda we had to go to Ndori to take a bus to Chianda. Ndori is a central place for transport in Siaya County. There are buses from Kisumu going to Bondo town all the way to Usenge town at the beaches.
Then you have the transport all over Asembo to the famous Aram market and to Uyoma. One more transport system from Ndori takes you to Alego and Ugenya all the way to Siaya town.
Ramba Boys High School just sits next to Ndori and it is in a great piece of land and now Otiende Amolo with those
Sh. 20 million has a chance to build everything in there and turn that school into a magnificent academy with all the things you need in a school including a library and great boarding facilities and learning blocks with all the facilities that students need.
Can you build a George Oduor Memorial Library at Ramba Boys High School for the students. That would be great for the students and the community to remember that great guy whose funeral services was held at the school.
Incidentally just a few weeks ago on March 22, 2025 2 Ramba Boys students were killed when a septic tank collapsed on them in the school. Otiende Amolo has to take that as a lesson to help build something new at Ramba Boys High School.
I have a lot of respect for Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo and one thing that made me happy was in 2017 when me and family, mainly the young ones were in Launda Kotieno because the kids wanted to go to Rusinga Island the home of one of Kenya’s great politicians Tom Mboya and to do that you have to take the ferry at Luanda Kotieno. It is fantastic.
Then when I was there I saw election posters because we were just about to go to the vote for 2017. The posters for Otiende Amolo read ” Jabura gi Jakom” and that was for him as Rarieda MP and Raila fighting for the presidency. And one thing is that there is a great tarmacked road all the way from Kisimu to Luanda Kotieno at the Lake Victoria.
My son and his cousins were riding motor bikes all the way there and they loved it. Keep that up as Rarieda MP my friend and those roads were built by Raila Odinga when he was the minister for roads during the Kibaki regime.
Let MP Otiende Amolo also remember that Rarieda is home to one of the most outstanding Kenyan politicians of all time and that is Nyakach Wuod Owila, Ramogi Achieng’ Oneko. Make him proud by doing unique things in Rarieda and this is one big chance to do that. Take it on with determination and make it work.
(from left) Achieng Oneko, Jomo Kenyatta, Makhan Singh, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
And then deal with the real and practical things the students at Ramba Boys High School face on a daily basis.
2 Ramba Boys students die after septic tank collapses
Sunday 23rd March, 2025
Two students have been reported dead at Ramba Boys High School in Siaya County after a septic tank in the school collapsed.
The Form Four students died on Saturday, March 22, 2025, prompting riots by other students in the institution. Two others were rushed to hospital for treatment.
The students were having supper when the structure suddenly gave way, trapping them inside.
“Another tragedy! Saddened to learn two young boys at Ramba Boys High School have lost their life after a septic tank collapsed! May their young souls know peace, even as we continue investigating the circumstances,” Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo stated on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
The good news is that Otiende Amolo knows the situation in this school very well and now he has a chance to elevate it to another level and the people in his constituency will love him for that.
Ramba Boys High School also has a very good record in the county and the whole country.
Siaya teacher voted principal of the year as annual fete ends
James Okoyo, the Ramba Boys High School head teacher, was voted the Principal of the Year at the close of the 43rd annual conference of the Kenya Secondary School Headteachers Association (KESSHA) in Mombasa.
I would invite Otiende Amolo and the leaders at Ramba Boys High School to visit Kakamega High where I was astonished when I arrived there as a student and found things I never saw in my life.
Kakamega High School parents, students turned away over Sh21.6m fine
When you are at Kakamega High School you don’t even know that you are in Kakamega town. The school is surrounded by trees and you feel like you are in a forest and it is lovely beyond belief. They have great buildings and fields for all sports. They have laboratories for science students and they have a huge library for everybody.
In fact the teacher in charge of the labs Chris Makokha was also the couch our our super football team “The Green Commandos” that won national champions every year and produced players like Mike Amwayi, John Lichungu ( Chung Cheng as we used to call him) and great goal keeper Washington Muhanji who became stars in the national team.
Former Kakamega high school coach Chris Makokha passes on
May 13, 2013
Former Kakamega High School soccer coach Chris Makokha has passed on. The famous Green Commandoes coach who is behind development of many Kenyan soccer talents died after a long battle with illness.
What we want Otiende Amolo to do is keep those big trees surrounding Ramba Boys High School and plant more including kayaba tree fencing which would make the place look great and then build everything the young people there need inside their school to make it first class in Kenya and then invite President Ruto to open the new school in January 2027.
It would be marvelous for the community and the school boys. You have a chance to do that Mr. Otiende Amolo, please do it. Thank you very much. Don’t forget the football field for the young ones.
Make sure you bring water to the school and bring water tanks in the school. The water system in Siaya is now very good. There was a time you bring water pipes in your home and you have water three days in a month. Now it is different because there is water everyday.
My sisters and me brought water to our home like seven years ago and we have never missed water even for one day. We also put water tanks there so that we fill the tanks just in case the water system has problems. Do that for Ramba Boys High School and the students will be in a very good shape. And also build good washrooms for the young fellows. They need it.
And last thing.
Can Raila Odinga and President Ruto set up a pension plan for George Oduor with monthly payments to Carol his wife now that this great soldier for the country is gone. If not then give Carol some good money now so she can sort out her life and that of the entire George Oduor family.
Can his family have a decent living? Please. Because after the burial show everybody is going to forget about them. Raila Odinga has to take the lead on this because he told the country that George Oduor was like a son to him.
Adongo Ogony is a Kenyan Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
