If my memory serves me right we went for half term immediately after that epic soccer game against Starehe and when we came back the headmaster announced the Big Four.
They were Nyairo E. (Carey Francis) Obiero A. (Mitchell) Maleche A. (Speke) and Kavila K. (Kirk). The year before (1981) it had been Otieno J. (Mumia), Mwangi G. (Thomson), Ogot Spike (Tom Mboya), and Alai J. (James).
I went for my morning classes after the announcement stunned. Later we all met at the school pres' comm. In the main administration block or “tower” as it was widely known. In earlier years the very mention of this place spelled terror to all of us. Now we were welcomed by the school prefects of that year led by Head of School Alai (James) and deputy head of school, Spike Ogot (Tom Mboya). We joined the other school prefects in taking tea and the famed “triangles” which were delicious sandwiches that got their name from their shape.
I was very familiar with my 3 colleagues more so because we were all rugby players for the school and we quickly settled down to our new responsibilities. We decided that we would work closely together and do everything together. Unity at this point made a lot of sense more so because this was the time when “campaigns” for head of school would usually go overboard and out of hand in some earlier years. Hardly surprising when it was rather obvious that one of the big four would be named Head of School early the following year which was just a matter of weeks away.
I remember being rather awe-struck. Not just by the power we suddenly wielded but also by the weekly mid-morning tea at the headmaster’s office which were even minuted (if my memory serves me right). Various issues affecting the school were discussed at length.
I have to admit that I started wondering if we were ever going to fit into the shoes of those 1982 school prefects. Alai’s authoritative presence as well as the brilliance of George Mwangi (Thomson), Spike Ogot, Amadi (Mitchell) and Sam Olago (Kirk) all serious science students to boot.
I was lucky because the head of Kirk Sam Olago took me under his wing from the moment the big four were announced. He offered guidance and a lot of advise that was invaluable. We remained friends with Sam years after school and even to date although I have not seen him for decades now.
One of the first pieces of advice we received from the 1982 prefects that I will never forget came from George Mwangi head of Thomson who kept emphasizing that power is never given, it is “taken.” Wise words indeed that hold true anywhere. What he meant in our context was that as school prefects we would only be as powerful as we wanted to be. Very early the following year I found myself in a situation where I would have to put this principal to the test but we shall talk about that when we get to 1983.
Obiero and Nyairo kept us very well informed of previous school prefects and some of the situations they had faced many years earlier which was very educative.
Personally it took quite a lot of adjustments for me to get used to people getting ruffled the minute I appeared somewhere. In those days school prefects were extremely powerful and respected people and in many instances more powerful than even senior teachers.
But trouble would come calling very early before we had even settled down. As stated earlier we had all agreed that we would do everything together. But an incident took place that involved the other three where I happened to be absent. And to make matters worse the incident involved rabbles who were widely known to be my friends from Lugard house.
I cannot remember why I was absent but I am certain that it was for a genuine engagement. Some were sure that I had ducked the incident because it had involved my close friends. The said rabbles were “disciplined” and they decided to sneak on the school prefects. Naturally nothing happened to the prefects but there are those who believe that the incident had an enormous bearing on the headmaster and house masters decision on who was going to be named Head of school. They were convinced that it appeared to the powers that be that I was NOT in support of what happened and had a strong enough character to reject the decision of the others; which was certainly NOT true. But alas, we will probably never know the truth however I have to admit that it is quite likely that this is precisely what happened.
Lenana never succeeded in converting me into a bully. When I became a school prefect I got involved in the use of violence and corporal punishment on some students (usually fairly senior ones) but only as a very last resort. Still it left me very uncomfortable on those very few occasions. I also found it difficult to retain and maintain my friendship with my many friends in lower classes. Through the years some of my house-mates in Kirk found these friendships and associations of mine with persons in lower forms distasteful and very Un-Lenana (if such a word exists). Some of them went as far as accusing me of being a homosexual. I believe this was said more in jest than anything else but I have to admit that it still hurt a great deal.
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