By Sharon Jebiwott and Irene Anyango ,
Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in our country on March 17th, things seemed to have taken a different turn away from the norms affecting all sectors of the economy, including people’s social lives. The education sector is one of the many sectors that were greatly affected by the pandemic as things falling fell apart for students from all levels of learning.
However, Stephen Nyarangi is one happy man who has been able to complete his studies and graduate with a degree in leadership and management from California University/the University of Yoll in collaboration with an evangelical training center in Nairobi. He attributes his success to God and thanks Him for the opportunity accorded to him despite all the challenges brought about by the pandemic.
COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise when it comes to his education according to Stephen “In fact, COVID-19 has made me study because you work from home. In most cases when I’m at home, I used to read a lot, so it was a blessing in disguise because I had enough time to sit down and read,” he said.
Besides being a student, Stephen Nyarangi works with the county government of Kisii as the political advisor to Hon. Governor Ongwae of Kisii County. He had to balance between work and studies, the saying was not an easy task to dedicating his time and took the course as a serious and noble calling for him to dedicate his time for the studies.
He however recalls excellent scores in the examinations did progress from 63% to 80% during the academic years.
Stephen is looking forward to using his experience in leadership and management to mentor younyoung people has he plans to further his studies with Masters’s, Ph.D., to be a role model in soviet society. “As an advisor, I needed to have a lot of experience in leadership and management because you can’t advise without having rich experience in leadership and management and how to relate with people,” he said.
He started a political journey in 2002, when he wanted to run for the seat of the Member of Parliament in Westlands Constituency, Nairobi but did not pursue his ambition since the Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a close working partner offered him a place in NARC headquarters as one of the directors of elections.
He, later on, formed a party called BDP, in which he was the chairperson until he was later elected the vice-chair in charge of finance and establishment center for multiparty democracy.
Nyarangi has worked closely with political leaders such as the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Gov James Ongwae, the speaker of the national assembly Justin Muturi as well as Alice Wahome, the Member of Parliament for Kandala Constituency enabling him to gain political expertise.
He holds the Governor of Kisii County, Governor James Ongwae, in high regard and is grateful for the opportunity to serve as his advisor and looks forward to working with like-minded people including the president.
Stephen Nyarangi however is not intending to run for any electoral position at the moment, as he wants to keep working with the county government and concentrate on ensuring that Governor James Ongwae delivers his mandate to the people and leaves a rich legacy in Kisii County.
He is working to ensure Raila Odinga becomes president hinting that the Gusii community remains united leaving a rich legacy for the Kisi County. “I don’t want to contradict my work, your young I say that I’m going to run for the seat of Member of Parliament or something else, then I’ll not be able really to work for the governor or rather the county or people, I’ll concentrate on people,” he said.
He alluded that the ongoing wrangles of fee increment at Kisii University urging the whole management to form committees to assist the lowering the fees so that the needy students from the community can enjoy an get the knowledge without any difficulties saying that a reasonable fee amount is a key and not only to success but also a brainstorming step for the better future.
By Sharon Jebiwott and Irene Anyango
