In that land of fadeless day, / Lies “the city four – square,”/ It shall never pass away, / And there is “no night there,” wrote John R. Clements in his song No Night There, his heart consoling refrain goes: God shall “wipe away all the tears,”/ There is no death, no pain, nor fears;/ And they count no time by years, / For there is “no night there.”
Night! Many a people are encountering night with fear and a dose of uncertainty, not only at Metamanywa village but also across the country as insecurity keeps on soaring. Homes are no safer: we’re left to long for a city four – square where peace will command and security will be abundant and eternal.
Just before the dawn of Thursday 11, 2008 – in the night of Wednesday 10,2008 at about 3:00 am a bullet shuttered the life of a veteran curriculum developer expert in his house at Metamaywa Settlement Scheme – Borabu District, Kisii.
Painfully the family of the late Professor Japheth Maranga watched as his precious life passed away, with the matching out of six armed men. Their effort to save his life hit a snag as he passed away at Kisii Hospital .
Borabu District Commissioner Mohamed Hassan said that the armed men gained entry to his bedroom where he was with his wife via the kitchen demanding for him. After accomplishing their evil act they walked out without stealing anything.
In that fateful night the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB), Department of Education graduate studies program was ushered into a disarray swirl of storm.
“Prof. Maranga is a person in whom we’ve been counting on. He was the most experienced, seasoned and the backbone of the department since the commencement of graduate studies,” said the Vice Chancellor Dr. Nathaniel Walemba, elaborating further, “our association with him has been long; he used to be an adjunct professor while at Moi University before joining us full time as a Dean of the School of Education . Yes, he has been a parent of UEAB; his daughter Norma acquired his degree here.”
The VC articulated that Prof. Maranga was a very peaceful person. To him, he was the age of his father but he was very respectful to him.
His masters and PhD students who looked up to him wake up from that Wednesday night as his heartbreaking death engulfed the nation: staring into an immeasurable turbulent future, “we’re confused! There are examination papers to be marked,” the VC confirmed.
As a writer on educational issues my constituency of readers will miss Prof. Maranga’s anecdotal knowledge that was anonymously interwoven in my articles.
Whenever I needed some insight or clarification on some issues he used to invite me to his house at UEAB. Then we will have an enthusiastic and broad discourse that stretched far into hours past normal expectation.
At the time when we were navigating through the hot debate on “ Kenya ’s wanting curriculum,” I booked an interview with Prof. Maranga. At 7:00 pm I was in his house, as his habit I waited for him to be done from watching the news of the day before we dived into business. “It is paramount to be abreast with news,” he told me.
From one question into another it never escaped from me that he’d a young mind in a 73 old body: the cell phone numbers of his close associated were in his lips without reference; facts dripped down accurately blended with experiences from his pupil days to teaching and his academic adventures across the world.
But it came to our realization that the issues at hand were a deep forest to be approached within hours: “Onsare I invite you to join my curriculum development class,” he reasoned. That is how I ended having my first experience in his Masters class. My seat used to be by his always in his office as I partook the privilege of learning from his maestro lectures, presentations and highly regulated discussions from Med students on a wide range of keenly – selected - crucial topics.
As we come to the end of the unity, Prof. Maranga had a very rare - fatherly style of anchoring the semester: He bought for us sodas as wished every student success in a very individualized and inspiring context.
Prof. Maranga was a firm believer in informative, well researched and entertaining journalistic articles.
This is the man we lost that fateful night.
The late Prof. Maranga was born in May 21, 1935 at Sengera village in central Kitutu.
Their home happened to be a cape of Christian missionaries, thus he began his primary schooling in 1942 at Sengera Primary School – taking his Std 4 national examination in 1949 before proceeding to Nyanchwa Adventist for his Std 5 to 8 classes from 1950 to 1952.
His excellent performance secured him a place in the prestigious Kisii Government School ( Kisii High School ) in 1953 to 1956 when he took his Cambridge O’level exams that opened a door for him to Siriba Teachers College for a P1 course.
As a professional teacher he rose from being a head master at Nyambaria Primary School in 1962 to the dawn of Kenya ’s independence to be a phenomenal education officer in the larger Kisii and Siaya, Kisumu and Kisumu municipal.
This educational pilgrimage offered his an indefatigable desire to hone his educational acumen. He joined Makere University in 1969 graduating in 1972. With his BA he resumed to the ministry of education as an education officer before moving to Asumbi Teacher College as a tutor.
As our people say, whoever has tested honey forever thirst to lick it again and again: Prof. Maranga nurtured 20/20 academic horizon that show him secure a place at Teachers Columbia Collage, New York, USA for Masters degree in Arts (MA) and a Masters degree in Education (Med) speculating in Curriculum Development and Educational Psychology, yes, he fortified his curriculum development fortress with a Doctorate in Education (Ded) in the same institution.
This was possible in an astronomical period of time: 1975 to 1978.
In landing back home he joined Kenyatta University (then a campus of University of Nairobi ) as a research fellow from 1978 to 1981. His star kept a bright glow as he was appointed to be a senior research fellow from 1982 to 1987 at KU.
As it’s, ripples keep a move, he moved to Moi University in 1987 where he was capped with associate professorship in Education Administration and Curriculum Development – a position he held till his retirement in 2004.
The UEAB Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Mwangi wa Githumo secretary Mrs Easter Yalibanda termed the catastrophic death as a shock that has left the institution Education graduate studies tattered and drowning in sorrow.
Dr. Maranga, a law lecture at University of Nairobi termed the death as unfortunate expressing that Kenya will miss Prof. Maranga his educational sage. Mr. Ongesa, a renown Kenyan fine artist cum lecture found himself in a melodrama - dream land, “I expected to meet him on Thursday 11, here at Nairobi to host our visiting colleagues from a board.” “Most curriculum experts in this country have passed via his hands,” said Angwenyi his colleague at UEAB, while Prof. Nyaundi termed it as sad news.
Under his BOG chairmanship at the Gusii Institute of Science and Technology he saw it match out of the woods of oblivion to a magnificent and populous status beckoning the Government to grant it Polytechnic status.
He has been among the Kisii professionals and elders with a passion of documenting the people’s literature, history and artifacts – the Abagusii Dictionary will soon see the light of publication from this endeavor.
“The curriculum is the heart of any given school system. It helps formulate the education offered. It takes into account the need of a given people, what they have (resources) and where they are supposed to be (their vision),” Prof. Maranga said in an interview, “curriculum setters lay the basics to be learned by learners but the dynamic needs are met by perpetual research by experts.”
These brains will not be on duty as KIE commissioner on shepherding curriculum development for this nation. Prof. Maranga has left behind one of the Kenya's distinguished judges - Justice Samuel Bosire, a brother among others.
When our duty is over, the night gone forever, by and by we shall meet at that fair land, that beautiful shore, our dwelling place – where death will be no more. Till then Prof. Maranga will not be in duty.
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