Irene Juliet Otieno topped the country from Pangani Girls with 87.64 points.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
The country’s top two girls in the just released Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) are childhood friends from Rongo, Migori County.
Irene Juliet Otieno topped the country from Pangani Girls with 87.64 points and Mel Christine who ranked sixth from Alliance Girls with just a 0.37 points difference.
The two attended the same primary school before parting ways in Class Five where Mel moved to Homa Bay View Academy and Irene remained at Rongo Success Academy.
Their academic rivalry boiled on and in 2015, Mel beat Irene to rank sixth nationally in Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCSE) with 438 marks while the other scored 421 to be the best in Migori.
What’s more, their parents are family friends, their fathers are High School principals and great buddies to add on that.
Irene’s father is the head of Winyo Secondary School while Mel’s father is the principal at Tom Mboya Secondary in Rusinga.
Their stellar performance raptured Rongo town, bringing it to a standstill as parents, friends and former schoolmates sang and danced in elaborate joy to their success.
For the two girls whose homes are barely a kilometre apart, it was a dream come true. It also lay to rest their academic rivalry.
“We are setting out to pursue different dreams. Mel wants to become a cardiologist, I, an aeronautical engineer. It has been a healthy competition and it really fueled us,” said Irene when We caught up with the two after the ornate celebrations on December 21.
Both attributed the success to consistency, hard work, and discipline, strong moral support from home and good guidance from their teachers.
“This has to be God’s doing. I put in all the hard work and God delivered me,” said Irene, a sentiment shared by her rival Mel.
Soaking in delight Paul Were, Irene’s father said he expected the girl to shock him with a good performance but was not ready for the result she posted.
“I have had brilliant children but Irene was unique. I would always melt with pride when she received awards as the best student in her class at Pangani but I had never imagined she would be the best in the country. It is a joy I cannot express in words,” he said.
He said the second last born in a family of five would always for books she thought would help her achieve the best grades and he always bought them without question.
Mel said her ranking as sixth twice in national examinations was simply coincidental, not a stroke of luck.
“I put in my best. I wanted to be the very best. Although I was not the topmost nationally, this achievement is good enough to keep me on the path to my career goals in medicine,” she said.
She said her cardiology ambitions were driven by the desire to find cures to heart diseases and conditions which have increased in number.
“I am always pushed by the desire to help improve the society and I think a course in medicine hands me that chance,” she said, adding that she would love to join the University of Nairobi’s Medicine School.