When Abdirahman Abdinur Ali arrived at the school on February 8 1965, he was assigned admission number 001. Ali had travelled from the neighbouring Mandera District, in search of education.
Mzee Ali says they were about twenty in the first class that marked the start of the long journey of Wajir High School situated within Wajir Town. At the time of the establishment of the school, the region was in the middle of a bitter conflict between the government of Kenya and Northern Province People’s Progressive Party that pushed for a secession agenda.
The political instability in the region birthed the Shifta war that disrupted livelihoods in the region. The first group of students came from Mandera, Wajir and Garissa districts now present-day counties forming the northern Kenya region. Some students also came from as far as Isiolo and Marsabit districts in the upper eastern region.
“Things were never good those days. There was too much insecurity and disruption of daily activities in this region,” he said.
From Wajir High School in 1968, Ali acquired a certificate in range management at the Animal Health and Industry Training Institute (AHITI). Now a father of eleven, grandfather and great grandfather to many, Mzee Ali retired from public service in 1996 and now enjoys his golden days back in Mandera County.
Since his admission to the school, at least 9,281 other students have gone through the gates of the institution.
An old joke whenever educated elites from Northern Kenya goes like this: “If you did not school at Wajir High, then where were you?”
For a good reason, many people from the North Eastern region who have served or are serving in senior position in government, politics as well as professional and business fields attended the school, one of the oldest in the region.
These include former administrator, Cabinet minister and senator Mzee Yusuf Haji who is also the father of the director-general of the National Intelligence Service, Noordin Mohamed Haji and Garissa Senator Abdulkadir Mohamed Haji, among others.
The late Garissa senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji. A road in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate will be renamed after him.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Other notable former students include the first governor of Mandera County Ali Roba who is now serving as senator of the county, current governor Mohamed Adan Khalif. Among many former students include the Late Ahmed Khalif, a former minister for Labour who perished in a plane crash in Busia, Abdirahaman Ali Hassan, former Wajir Senator, Mr Ahmed Muhumed, Wajir Deputy Governor and Mr Elyias Abdi, Director General, Ministry of Education.
Others are Mohamed Ahmed Mohamud, former Wajir governor and Mr Ahmed Muktar, Chairman Kenya Ports Authority among many.
The school celebrated its 60 years of existence since 1965 last year when it opened its gates for education of thirsty boys in the arid region. The diamond jubilee was about celebrating six decades of academic excellence, institutional transformation and community impact.
The fete was organised by the Wajir High School Alumni Association (WHSAA) where they met and told their stories over the decades, honoured their journey and inspired the futures of hundreds of students currently in the institution.
Officially opened on February 8, 1965 and started as a single stream school, Wajir High School remains an academic giant across the North Eastern Region.
According to Chief Principal of the school, Aden Kassim, the purpose of the WHSAA is to mentor and develop the oldest high school in the region.
“We decided to have an alumni association because we wanted to have a connection of the past, present and the future of our population. We have quite a number of former students who have excelled out there and we wanted them to serve as an encouragement to the current population,” Mr Kassim said.
In 1975, the school was expanded to a double-stream school, eventually offering industrial education (Metal work and Wood work) from 1978. It remained the only school to offer industrial education in the former North Eastern Province.
It was elevated to a high school (Form 5 and 6) in 1979 and took its first A level class in 1980 offering sciences. In 1986 the school became a triple-stream school and acquired four-stream status in 2017.
In 2013 and 2020 it produced the best candidate in the whole of the North Eastern region with a mean score of 11.4(A-) and 10.86(A-) respectively.
The administration block at Wajir High School in Wajir County on May 29, 2026.
Photo credit: Manase Otsialo | Nation Media Group
With the introduction of Competency-Based Education, the school reported a lack of technical subjects including metalwork/woodwork, agriculture, computer and sport recreation.
Wajir High School takes pride in having produced eminent personalities like ambassadors, governors, cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries and director generals.
Sitting on a 50-acre piece of land, the school has ten dormitories and twenty classrooms with three laboratories. It only has one library, a dining hall and a workshop.
Wajir County has since witnessed incredible growth, from just one secondary school in 1965 to 81 secondary schools and over 350 primary schools today.
As Wajir hosts the 63rd national celebrations of Madaraka when Kenya attained internal self-rule from Britain, the people of Northern Kenya are celebrating an institution that has contributed immensely to the enlightment of its people.
