Chewoyet- Where good old Jomo stood trial
Chewoyet High School that is situated about four kilometres from Kapenguria town in West Pokot County is as old as Kenya’s history.
The school was first an agriculture college in the 1940’s and later became a colonial court where the country’s founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta together with five others(Kapenguria six) were tried on April 8, 1953.
The school gate of Chewoyet High School in West Pokot County. The school was first an agriculture college in the 1940’s and later became a colonial court where the country’s founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta together with five others(Kapenguria six) were tried on April 8, 1953. (PHOTO COURTESY)
Relics of the colonial court still stand at the institution and the old courtroom buildings have been converted into a staff room, an administration block and a classroom for form three students.
The learning institution was earlier known as Rift Valley Junior Secondary School when it begun admitting students in 1958, was among the first two premier government secondary school in the north rift region, with Kapsabet Boys in Nandi being the other .
Among the pioneer students who ‘endured’ the approximately 40km rough ride along the Kitale-Kapenguria Road on a lorry was former Vice President Michael Wamalwa Kijana and Former Chief of General Staff Daudi Tonje.
The late VP who was famous for his Queen’s English must have honed his leadership skills at Chewoyet, as he was the first school head captain. He later joined King’s College London to study law, then to the London School of Economics. After graduating he returned to Kenya and joined the University of Nairobi to teach law.
Other renown alumni who went to the school that sits on 400 acres piece of land include; Eugene Wamalwa the designate Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary, Education PS Dr Kipsang Bellio, Prof Atinga John Ernest Oluoch of UON , former Nairobi Mayor John Gakuo and the late Rift Valley PC Ishmail Chelang’a.
Prominent people from the local Pokot community like former Sigor MP Wilson Litole, former Prison Commissioners Abraham Kamakil and Edward Lopokoit. Others are current Kitale ACK Bishop Stephen Kewasis and Milimani courts senior principal magistrate Linus Limatiang quenched their thirst for education at the school.
The institution -which according to former students has a colonial hangman’s noose in the compound-was elevated to a national school in 2012. In last year’s KCSE Chewoyet whose motto is Virtus Et Probitus (Latin for Virtue and Honesty) was the top school in the region posting an impressive 9.86 mean grade.
– Daniel Psirmoi
Chewoyet where good old Jomo stood trial
THE SPLASH 