most of her passion for politics.
Mariana Ong’ango Ololo turned up unannounced for class at Obambo Primary School in Yenga village, south-west Kenya last month, wearing full uniform and accompanied by her 56-year-old son George.
A week later, once staff had discussed how best to deal with an older pupil, Mrs Ololo walked for two miles from her home in Siaya county to join 86 other Class One pupils for lessons, reports the Daily Nation.
The mother-of-eight is frail, the paper reports, and had to miss two days of school in her first fortnight because of illness.
But her son George Ololo, who attended Obambo as a child, said his mother, who was widowed in 2002, was ‘unstoppable’.
Mrs Ololo was inspired to get a formal education by the election of 51-year-old Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s president in April and by the digital advances his government plans to introduce.
‘Uhuru Kenyatta is not an old man, but took over as fourth President because he has got an education. That is a clear indicator that a person cannot rank highly in society without an education,’ she told the Daily Nation.
‘I normally feel I have not spoken my heart out whenever I speak to visitors that come with my sons. I wish I could speak to them directly,’ she said.
Her five sons finished secondary school, despite her husband Andrewo’s ‘meagre earnings’, with one now studying for a master’s degree in South Africa.
Mr Ololo said his mother has long been interested in politics and has campaigned for aspiring politicians in her area, mobilising support to help former MP Edwin Yinda and former area councillor Adero Kayenga to election victories.
‘It wasn’t easy letting her go to school,’ he said.
‘At first we thought it was a joke, but she insisted. We asked her how she would survive in class, for she is a smoker. She promised to let go of tobacco as long as she was in class. So we had no option but to fulfill her wish.’
Read more: You’re never too old to learn! 78-year-old Kenyan grandmother starts school because she wants to pursue her passion for politics
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