For two agonising days, Sheila Adongo sat at a boda boda shed opposite Manyatta Primary School in Kisumu watching her son Edrian Otieno’s dream of joining Wang’apala High School slowly unravel.
Beside them lay a metal box, a mattress and a newly purchased uniform.
A widow from Manyatta, Ms Adongo, had borrowed money to meet the basic requirements after being promised that a sponsor would cater for her son’s entire secondary school fees.
A bus was expected on Monday to ferry students from Kisumu County to their respective schools ahead of the Grade 10 reporting deadline.
Grade 10 students stranded for the second day near Manyatta Primary School in Kisumu on January 20, 2026, after an alleged well-wisher reportedly duped them into waiting.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
“I have no work, so I had already given up taking my son to school because the requirements and the fee structure were too high. The sponsor was the only hope. Now we are forced to take our children back home,” Ms Adongo said.
Her ordeal began last Sunday evening while buying supper when she met a friend who asked why her son had not yet reported to school despite the looming deadline.
“I told her I did not have enough finances,” Ms Adongo recalled.
The friend then offered what sounded like a lifeline: her neighbour, she said, was linking needy students to a sponsor who would fully fund their secondary education. She shared a phone number, which Ms Adongo called immediately.
A man on the other end identified himself as Shem Otieno. He issued precise instructions - purchase a school uniform, a metal box, a mattress and six A4-size exercise books, assuring her that the sponsor would take care of the fees.
Sponsor no-show for two days
Early Monday morning, Ms Adongo borrowed money and rushed to Kibuye market to buy the items. Mr Otieno informed her that a bus from Homa Bay would first pick up students in Ugunja along the Busia-Kisumu highway before collecting those from Kisumu, who were to assemble at the boda boda shed near Manyatta Primary School.
Grade 10 students stranded for the second day after a well-wisher who promised to sponsor their admission to Grade 10 duped them.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
When she arrived at the boda boda shed, other parents were already there with their children. They waited for hours.
At 4pm, they tried calling Mr Otieno again. His phone was switched off.
“We thought maybe he was offline but still on his way, so we waited. We left the boda boda shed at 8pm,” Ms Adongo explained.
On Tuesday morning, they returned, clinging stubbornly to hope.
“When we called him again at 10am, he was not picking up,” Ms Adongo said.
Desperate, they decided to use the neighbour’s mobile phone to call. This time, Mr Otieno answered, claiming he was in Migosi estate within Kisumu County. When they called again at noon, his phone was off. It has remained off since.
Brenda Akinyi, the alleged neighbour who had provided the initial linkage, told Nation.Africa that Mr Otieno had approached her on Saturday with news of the sponsorship opportunity. She, too, became a victim, bringing her own son to the boda boda shed.
“I am also affected. Shem asked me to share his contacts with parents whose children were yet to report for Grade 10. My son has not reported either. We have been stranded here since yesterday,” Ms Akinyi said.
A resident of Manyatta estate as well, Ms Akinyi declined to say how long she had known Mr Otieno, but confirmed that they were neighbours.
Word of the promised sponsorship spread quickly through Manyatta, reaching families such as that of Faith Whitney, an orphan who scored 62 points in the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) results and was admitted to Bishop Linus Okok Girls in Homa Bay County.
“My sister could not afford the school fees, so I was just at home. When we heard about the sponsor, my sister told me and we came here on Monday morning. We waited the whole day. We came again the next day, but he never came,” Whitney said amid sobs.
Whitney, who dreams of becoming an accountant, spoke with quiet despair about her uncertain future.
“If my parents were alive, I think I would have joined the school. My future is at stake,” she wept.
They were not alone. In total, 16 students were left stranded - their hopes for education manipulated by false promises.
Grade 10 students stranded for the second day after a well-wisher who promised to sponsor their admission to Grade 10 duped them.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Among them was Cindy Esther, who scored 55 points and was admitted to Koru Girls.
“We heard rumours that there was a sponsor, so I came with my mother on Monday,” Cindy said.
Winnie Atieno, another widow from Manyatta, said her neighbour, identified only as Sheila, informed her of the opportunity.
“The instructions were to buy a uniform, a metal box and six books. He was to take care of the school fees. I could not manage to take my child to school. He was the only hope. Now we are forced to take our children back home,” Ms Atieno said.
Linet Anyango said her daughter, Mitchel Atieno, who scored 63 points and was admitted to Kisian Secondary School, could not report due to lack of funds.
“When we got information about the sponsorship, we came immediately,” Ms Anyango said.
Other affected students included Brenda Akinyi (Dago Thim Secondary, 45 points), Sharon Goga (Koru Girls, 60 points), Jemila Stephanie (Koru Girls, 55 points), Christine Adhiambo (Mahola Mixed Secondary School, 44 points), Vivian Atieno (Olare Mixed Secondary, 48 points) and Junior Oduor (Musingu High School, 58 points).
Manyatta A sub-location Assistant Chief Agnes Akinyi Ogweno speaking to the media during the second day of uncertainty for stranded Grade 10 students in Manyatta, Kisumu on January 20, 2026.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Agnes Akinyi, the Assistant Chief of Manyatta A sub-location, arrived at the scene after a community member alerted her to the gathering of students at the boda boda shed.
“When I was notified, I came and spoke to the students and their parents to establish whether it was true that they were supposed to be taken to school,” she said.
“We have been waiting for him since morning, but he has not appeared. I called him again about 30 minutes ago. He told me he was in Katito and would arrive within 30 minutes. We are still waiting,” she said.
The administrator contacted the Ministry of Education, which responded promptly. Officials visited the scene, recorded details of the affected parents and students, and promised assistance.
“I believe that by tomorrow, they will be contacted so that they can be helped to go to school.
“These students are clearly very vulnerable and in need of support. That is why they easily fall into the hands of such people,” she said.
“If parents have been waiting since yesterday and even today he is not showing up, then this person is a conman,” she said.
The administrator said her office would question Brenda Akinyi, the alleged neighbour, noting that Mr Otieno answered calls made from her mobile phone - suggesting she may have been unwittingly used to lend credibility to the scheme.
“Our offices, from the village elder upwards, are always open. If they receive information they are unsure about, they should notify us so that we verify whether it is true. They should not just sit around,” she said.
She confirmed that none of the parents had handed over money to Mr Otieno, although many, like Ms Adongo, had already spent borrowed funds on the required school items.
Nation attempted to reach Shem Otieno for comment, but his phone remained switched off at the time of going to press.
However, according to a police report, the children were supposed to benefit from a scholarship at St Albert Chiepe Secondary School in Homa Bay.
Officers detained a passenger service van and arrested its driver and conductor, who had allegedly been sent by Mr Otieno to pick up the students on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities confirmed that they contacted St Albert Chiepe Secondary School, where Principal Richard Oduor confirmed that a scholarship programme exists and assured police that the affected students would report to school on Wednesday.
Parents, however, told the Nation that their children were meant to be admitted to the schools assigned by the Ministry, in accordance with the arrangement they had with Mr Otieno
