Recognize Kitui's education supporter, Uhuru urged

Two retired teachers in Kitui county have faulted the government for forgetting a hero who in the 1960s promoted education by giving out money to pay teachers’ salaries.

David Matheka and Malombe Muviiwa want President Uhuru Kenyatta to recognize, albeit posthumously, the livestock trader, Kitemange Ndema, for his work on education in Kitui. Ndema was the father of Kitui county Kanu chairperson Emma Kitemnge.

The teacher said presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi failed to decorate Ndema with a medal until he died in 2000. They want President Uhuru Kenyatta to honour him.

The two said Ndema's accomplishments met the threshold of distinguished service for which many Kenyans have been honored by presidents. They said even in death Ndema remains an unsung Kenyan hero.

The retired teachers recalled that when they both served in the 1960s as employees of the County Council of Kitui, their employer would sometimes run out of funds but Ndema who was a prominent livestock dealer gave hefty soft loans.

“A number of times Ndema would be approached by the County Council of Kitui to advance it a soft loan of Sh100,000 to pay teachers. That way, an industrial action that could have disrupted learning in schools was averted,” Muviiwa said on Monday.

“He was a selfless and generous man whose love for education was unrivaled although he never attended any formal school,” said 85-year-old Muviiwa.

Matheka said at his home in Mbitini village in Kitui rural that Ndema’s generosity was remarkable.

“It is not common for a man to take the family saving to loan it out to salvage a government institution. By the way at the time Sh100,000 was not petty cash,” he added. Matheka, 84, said the money was used to pay all the teachers across Kitui.

The late Ndema's widow, Beatrice Mwia, who spoke at her Mukameni home in Kisasi confirmed that her husband used to give the county council interest free loans.