Khalwale blasts Northern Kenya leaders over dilapidated schools infrastructure
By Joel Masibo, January 10, 2026Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has attacked leaders from the Northern Frontier of the country over dilapidated school infrastructure, a day after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos announced the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results in Eldoret.
Taking to his social media pages on Saturday, January 10, 2026, Khalwale also defended former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s argument of setting aside 30 per cent national school admission slots for local communities, who have mobilised resources to develop learning institutions in their localities.
Gachagua has been on the receiving end of accusations of propagating tribalism in matters of national school admission when he pointed out inequality in the particular exercise, particularly in the Mount Kenya region.
Underdeveloped Northern Kenya
”As they say, if you want to kill a dog, start by giving it a bad name. Listening to Rigathi with sobriety, he actually raised a valid and not tribal point. I strongly believe national schools should reserve 30% admission slots for students from local communities,” Khalwale argued.
He accused leaders from Northern Kenya of failing to utilise the National Government Constituency Development Fund and the county government’s effort towards improving school infrastructure in the region. He gave an example of Kotule Model Girls Secondary School in Mandera County, a learning institution that lies in a sorry state despite funds set aside by relevant authorities to upgrade the school.
”As for the use of NG-CDF by MPs and, by extension, devolved funds by governors from the former Northern Frontier Districts, let us not sugarcoat anything. These leaders are the problem! Period. Look at this Kotulo Model Girls Secondary School in Mandera County,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a fresh political broadside, Rigathi Gachagua has scoffed at Northern Kenya leaders, accusing them of squandering vast devolved resources without building lasting public institutions.
Gachagua roars
At a Nyeri press briefing on Friday, January 9, 2026, Gachagua dismissed calls for affirmative action, saying a decade of devolution weakens claims that some counties still deserve preferential treatment in elite school admissions.
“Devolution has been in place since 2013, and leaders from those regions have not developed institutions at the same pace, yet they want their children to benefit from facilities established by other counties,” he said.
“They have the opportunity to develop institutions of the highest standards possible in Kenya, not just for the children of those areas, but for the children of Kenya,” he said, adding that comparable counties in the Western, Rift Valley and Mt Kenya regions had used smaller amounts to establish “beautiful institutions”.
Gachagua noted that during his tenure as deputy president, he observed limited development in Northern Kenya despite sustained transfers of public funds such as the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).