- "I came from a primary school where English was not taken so seriously, and so I did not know the difference between f, p, v, and b."
- The CS studied at Chawis Primary School in Embobut Forest, Marakwet East.
Image: KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN / X
Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has recounted a time in his life when he struggled with pronunciation of certain letters in the English language.
Murkomen said he specifically struggled with pronouncing the letters f, p, v, and b.
The CS said he pronounced the four letters the same way.
"I came from a primary school where English was not taken so seriously, and so I did not know the difference between f, p, v, and b. They were all the same. It depends on the teacher," Murkomen said.
He was speaking on Wednesday when he handed over a Kenya Airways aircraft to Mang'u Boys High School at KQ headquarters.
Murkomen was reminiscent that his primary school teacher, while dictating notes, would clarify that he meant p for Penjamin when he meant to say Benjamin.
"In the next sentence he would say it is p for Pincent when he actually meant Vincent," he said.
Murkomen said when he got to high school, he lost his physics book.
By then, no one had told him that 'ph' would be pronounced differently.
"So, I stood in front of the class and I asked who has seen my pysics book. My friend who went to the academy together came and told me I had to acknowledge the 'ph' to say physics," he said.
He said to anyone facing challenges of pronunciation, it was probably the foundation as a learner that is to blame.
The CS studied at Chawis Primary School in Embobut Forest, Marakwet East until 1993 when he sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam.
Murkomen later joined St Joseph’s High School Kitale and transferred to St Patrick's High School Iten, where he sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam.
In the year 2000, Murkomen joined the University of Nairobi, Parkland Campus and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2004.