Editor's Review

The president promised to elevate a boys' secondary school after request by area MP.

President William Ruto has pledged millions to help upgrade Habasawein Boys High School and make it a national institution.

The president was in the area Sunday, May 31, at the start of his working tour.

Addressing locals, the president pledged a host of development projects, including investment on transport and education.

Wajir South MP Mohammed Adow had requested a national school, to which the president affirmatively responded.

"We don't have a national school in Wajir South. If you could kindly facilitating the naming of Habaswein Boys to be a national school," said Adow.

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The president promised to send Ksh50 million to the school to start off upgrading works toward being named a national centre of academic excellence.

The president directed that the school be constructed to match modern levels that befit a national school.

"As we prepare to make Habaswein Boys to be a national school, I will send Ksh50 million for the construction of the school to modern level," he said.

Habaswen Boys Secondary School is on its journey to be a national institution.

The president's intervention is set to reshape the school by boosting infrastructure, upgrading learning resources, and opening wider avenues for students to thrive both academically and in co‑curricular activities.

It would also affirm the institution’s track record in academic performance.

This came months after a raging debate regarding lack of better public learning facilities, with North Eastern leaders being blasted for apparently abandoning their backyards to have native children depend on other regions to access quality education.

Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua sparked the debare after he accused northern Kenya leaders of failing to invest in education despite receiving massive devolution funds. 

Gachagua cited figures showing Wajir got KSh99.6 billion, Marsabit KSh76.83 billion, Garissa KSh81.7 billion, and Mandera KSh119 billion since 2013, contrasting them with regions like Western, Rift Valley, and Mt. Kenya that have built stronger school infrastructure with less.

He argued that unfair student placements in national schools deny local high‑scoring learners opportunities, stressing his stance is about fairness, not restricting schools to host communities.

Gachagua, in particular, questioned why top‑performing Mt. Kenya students were overlooked for prestigious schools in their own region while outsiders with lower marks secured places.  

His remarks was however condemned by some quarters, including the president who called Gachagua out for what he said were advancing tribal politics in school admissions.

Ruto said that by virtue of being Kenyan, any child, regardless of their ethnic base, it at liberty to school at whatever location they find themselves, by choice or circumstance.