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Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has undertaken to pay the school fees of a bright and needy student who performed exceptionally well in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams but was unable to join High School owing to lack of school fees.
The teenage girl who hails from Machakos County could not hide her smile after Sonko literally rescued her and made her dream to education a reality.
Margaret Koki from Ekalakala, Matuu in Machakos County had been selected to join State House Girls in Nairobi but failed to report to school on February 6, 2023, as required.
The 14-year-old delayed had posted 372 marks out of a possible 500 in her KCPE exams at Ikombe Primary School.
She went viral on social media through with a recorded video asking for help from the former governor.
“Mike Sonko please help me to secure my form one admission at State House Girls. I was supposed to report to school latest on Monday 6, 2023, but my mother cannot afford the school fees and purchase of books, bedding and other requirements needed for admission,” the girl pleaded in the video.
The governor responded through a post on his Facebook page, went ahead to meet her in Machakos, and took her shopping together with her mother, Caroline Nthenya.
This comes amid an ongoing countrywide mop-up exercise that was launched last month by the government targeting admission of all Form One and Grade Seven learners.
Education Cabinet Secretaries Ezekiel Machogu and his Interior counterpart Professor Kithure Kindiki had directed National Government administrators (NGAOs) to round up all learners who are yet to report to schools in their areas.