Azimio leader Raila Odinga's staunch supporter Nuru Okanga is yet to receive his Standard Eight results, a day after Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced them.
Okanga, 32, is among more than 1.4 million candidates who sat for this year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).
This year's KCPE examination attracted the highest number of candidates after the government allowed unregistered candidates to sit for the exam, which concludes the 8-4-4 education system.
Did Nuru Okanga sit the KCPE exams this year?
Okanga sat for the exam at Mumias Muslim Primary School in Kakamega County as a private candidate, saying his intention was to obtain a primary school certificate that would enable him to contest for the ward representative seat for Kholera in Matungu in 2027.
In an earlier interview, he said he wanted to go on to secondary school and pursue a university degree with the intention of becoming Kenya's president in the future.
"I will not stop at this level (KCPE). I want to go to secondary school and make sure I get into university because in Kenya to be president you have to have a degree. That is my focus. Even if I am 70 years old, I must contest for the presidency," he declared.
He claimed Roots Party leader George Wajackoyah had hired a teacher for him in Nairobi to train and prepare him well for the exams.
Nuru Okanga, a Raila Odinga fan joined other candidates sitting for the 2023 KCPE examination at Mumias Muslim Primary School in Kakamega County as a private candidate.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
But the vocal politician, known for defending Mr Odinga and the ODM party, is now lamenting the delayed results and has called on the Kenya National Examinations Council to come clean and explain why he was unable to get his results.
He said he had put in hard work and sleepless nights during the examination period and the delay in releasing his results was hurting him.
"I would like to know why my results are not being displayed when other candidates have received their results. What is the problem? KNEC should release my results immediately because I have done the exams. I have a lot of plans to continue my academic journey and these delays are worrying me," he said.
He said he was expecting to get at least 250 marks out of the 500 to give him a better chance of getting into secondary school to climb the educational ladder and realise his dream of becoming a leader.
He said his intention in politics was to start by contesting the Kholera County seat in 2027 as he climbs the political ladder to become President of Kenya.
On the morning of 24 November 2023, Okanga had not received his results. A text message containing Okanga's index number followed by the word KCPE, sent to code 40054, indicated that the results had not been found.
"Dear customer, no results found for index number 37961701022 KCPE or it does not exist. Please confirm the index number. KNEC Helpline 08000724900," read the resulting SMS.
Nuru Okanga during the exam.
Photo credit: Facebook | Nuru Okanga
By Thursday, social media was awash with fake results indicating that Mr Okanga had scored a remarkable 401 marks in his exams.
Azimio leaders had come out to congratulate him for passing the KCPE exams, with Embakasi East MP Babu Owino offering a full scholarship to support his education in secondary school and beyond.
"Congratulations Nuru Okanga for passing the KCPE exams with flying colours. I will give you a scholarship to further your education in secondary school. Mwalimu wa Maths hapa ni Wapi?" posted Mr Owino on the X platform.
Mr Okanga dropped out of Grade Three in 2007 due to lack of fees after the death of his father. He went to Nairobi to stay with his aunt. He resumed his studies after being inspired by Mr Raila Odinga.
He became politically active during the anti-government demonstrations organised by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, when he launched a scathing attack on President William Ruto and his government without using words.
He said he was putting every aspect of his life and educational progress into the public domain so that when he ran for a political seat there would be no doubt about how he acquired his academic credentials.
