Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has urged President William Ruto to crack the whip on rogue officials perpetrating alleged graft at the National Hospital Insurance Fund.
Barasa warned the consequences of bad leadership at the top national insurer will be felt by citizens.
“I know we are pumping a lot of money into NHIF and I want to call on the President to take stern action on perpetrators of mismanagement of funds, ”Barasa said.
He spoke on Wednesday when he joined parents, teachers, students and alumni to celebrate 50 years since St Mary’s Mumias Girls High School was founded.
“It’s a high time investigative agencies took up an audit so that all fellows misappropriating funds at NHIF are brought to book,” Barasa said.
He urged alumni associations in various schools to support continuing students in their former institutions.
“I would like to appeal to you all, particularly the alumni of our various learning institutions, to go back to the schools which nurtured you and contribute to the nurturing of another child,” the ODM governor said.
The county boss affirmed that his government is committed to supporting the school, which has been ranked as the second best in Kakamega.
“It is possible these have been 50 years of struggle, 50 years of insignificant improvements every successive year. But cumulatively, we can see a huge difference in between,” he said.
The school principal Esther Amukwachi decried the lack of a dining hall, saying this has subjected students to dire circumstances.
“Our girls eat while standing but we have a project to build a multipurpose hall which can be used for various activities,”Amukwachi said.
Amukwachi, who is set for retirement, said the project will require almost Sh50 million towards construction and equipment.
The school, which has a population of 1717, began in 1973 with only 23 students and has witnessed immense growth in the past 50 years.
The school has seven streams in Forms 1 and 2, while Forms 3 and 4 have six streams each, and 68 teachers.
St Mary’s Mumias Girls was founded by then ares MP Francis Obongita with the idea of having a girls only boarding school in Mumias.
Amukwachi further stated that the school has been on an upward trend on performance since she took over the office.
“The girls are really doing well in terms of performance. In 2019 we were at a mean score of 6.2 moved to 7.0 then to 7.2 and this year we are targeting 9.59,” she added.
She further told the Star that the school recognises that the girls have talents and the school participates in various co-curricular activities up to the national level.
Amukwachi said the school upholds discipline and good character in high regards, adding that they had guiding and counseling sessions to mould the girls into responsible students.
The principal said that despite having a small compound she was working to improve the buildings and other infrastructure so as to boost the learner’s self-esteem within the school, adding that they had increased the number of water taps so as the girls could access water at a close proximity to improve hygiene.
“We are currently working on improving our infrastructure so that the students can be motivated, for instance we have constructed modern labs which will help the girls perform well in the science subjects,” Amukwachi told the Star.
During its foundation the school received support from the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega (then Catholic Diocese of Kisumu) under Bishop Joannes de Reeper and Fr Peter Claver who was in charge of Mumias Catholic Parish.
Notable alumni who were feted by the school include Rita Ombito Katam, who was among the first 34 students to complete Form 4 in 1979.
Other notable luminaries include Busia Woman MP Catherine Omanyo and NSST Principal Compliance officer Emma Ndombi.
Ombito is the current curriculum support officer in Mumias West subcounty and has previously served as a national trainer of trainers on curriculum implementation.
Another luminary is Hendricah Lisutsa who sat her KCSE in 2002 and scored an A (lecturer USA), Kenyatta University senior lecturer Rubai Mandela and Judith Ashelyne (a people management specialist).