Albert Einstein, the German-born theoretical physicist, once said, “a ship is safe at the shores but that is not what it is built for”.
Seemingly, Dr Evans Makori Oruta lived by this and said bye to the gun and yes to the pen after a stint in the National Police Service.
Makori joined NPS in 1996 as a recruit and graduated in 1997 as a constable.
He was posted to Maragwa subcounty in Central and later on went ahead to serve at the Coast, Nairobi, Rift Valley, Nyanza, and North Eastern between 1997 and 2003.
He was moved to Kakamega in 2004 and this is perhaps where changes that would define him today took place.
He was attached to then-Western provincial commissioner’s office as a driver to the PC Abdul Mwasera and also his successor, Samuel Kilele.
As a driver, he occasionally drove Mwasera to and from Masinde Muliro University where he was pursuing his master's degree.
“The provincial commissioner used to encourage us on the need to advance our education," Makori said.
"After a while, I applied for a Bachelor of Criminology slot at MMUST and was admitted in August, 2007, though I did not know where the fees could come from,” he said.
By August, 2007, earning a paltry Sh8,000 net salary, since he was a servicing a loan, he needed Sh110, 000 per year for his course.
He says he was forced to go for another bank loan to supplement his savings for the fees covering the first year.
Makori said that he had to go for a top-up loan a year later from KCB which bought off the Sacco loan and Barclays bank (now ABSA) loan that he had earlier taken. This left him with some balance which he used to pay fees for the second year of study and third year.
Upon graduation with First Class Honours in Criminology, in December 2011, he landed a chance to teach the Diploma in Criminology class which helped him raise fees for his master's studies at the same university between 2012-2014.
On completion in December, 2014, he was promoted to AP Inspector.
Though good news to him, it would quickly turn into his source of mental trouble, and later trigger his exit from the service.
He would quickly be transferred to Awendo subcounty in Migori county. His efforts to convince his county police commander that he needed to stay in Kakamega for some time to enable him organise himself fell on deaf ears.
“I had now brought my family from Kisii to Kakamega so that they can now live a better life having stayed in Kisii since I joined the service," Makori said.
"I tried to convince by county boss to allow me to return to Kakamega so that I could continue working as a part-time lecturer and continue servicing the loans I had taken to pay for my fees but he refused.”
His boss said that transfers were normal and that I should report to my new working station.
“I reported to the new work station two days after receiving my transfer letter and took a 45-day leave so that I could live with my family at least for some time as I taught diploma students at the Masinde Muliro University."
“It was during this leave that I was called for an interview for a job I had applied at Kibabii University sometimes back. I was successfully given the job as a full time lecturer in June, 2015,” he said.
Makori said he never saw himself outside the NPS because it had supported him by facilitating his studies, but his exit was triggered by a transfer that seemed punitive, successively followed by a new job offer.
He said lack of a listening ear from his boss worsened his situation.
He says he joined NPS out of his love for the orderly manner in which the police used to do things, especially during national holidays ceremonial parades and thought it was a unique way of doing things.
Makori’s career journey began after his secondary education at Cardinal Otunga High School, Mosocho, in Kisii county, where he scored a C+ in his ‘O’ levels in 1995.
He defied his father's calls to train as a P1 teacher because his elder sister was pursuing a similar course at High Ridge College. His father was also a P1 teacher.
Makori, however, did not know what awaited him even as he turned down his father’s offer.
He wished to pursue university education after his Form 4, but did not qualify after his points fell short of the cut off mark (59) set in that year.
“I felt that the gods had conspired against me to deny me direct entry to university by just one point,” he said.
But today, Makori is a PhD holder in criminal justice from the University of South Africa and the chairman of the Department of Criminology and Social Work at MMUST.
Makori was born in 1977 in Kisii and brought up at Bomwancha sub-location, Bonchari constituency. He went to Itiero E.L.C.K Primary School and thereafter joined Cardinal Otunga High School.
The 43-year-old is married to Paskaria Kanini and blessed with four children.
Victor Oruta (second year MMUST), Faith Bosibori (first year Kenyatta University), Kimberly Buge and Nelson Onchari, both in class eight at Kakamega Hill School.
Makori's journey from police constable to PhD was not a walk in the park.
He had to juggle with loans, his little savings and support from his wife who was engaged in cereals business back in Kisii to help him offset his fees requirements.
“I had to opt for night duties so that I could create time for my classes. Sometimes I missed classes when called up for duty in cases of emergencies, and that means I struggled to cover lost ground,” he said.
Makori said he was forced to make some sacrifices, including removing his two children Victor and Faith from a private academy to a public school.
This was because he could not manage to raise his personal fees and that for his two children.
“This made me a laughing stock in the village. How as a senior police officer I couldn’t keep my children in a private school. But I didn’t care because I knew what I was doing,” Makori says.
He attributes his achievements to the support he received from his family, the NPS led by then-Kakamega Central AP commander Francis Kooli, currently the Kisii police commander, and his police colleagues he worked with during his study period.
“The discipline I gained from the police service, doing things the right way, honesty and hard work have propelled me this far,” he added.
“Challenges strengthen one's resolve depending on how you tackle them. What makes the difference is the extra energy you put to any assignment,” he said.
Makori envisions steering criminology as a field of study in Kenya to be a leading discipline in social sciences.
(edited by Amol Awuor)