Kenyan musician-cum-businesswoman Esther Akoth (Akothee) has expressed frastruation and anger towards one of the many students she is sponsoring his education.
Taking to her Facebook account on Tuesday, September 2 morning, Akothee lambasted the Form Two boy for not only being lazy, but also giving him endless headaches.
“Sometimes, the people who need help the most never realize the weight of their situation. I have one son in Form Two who has been giving me endless headaches. He is lazy and always runs back to a home he once claimed he didn’t have,” Akothee says.
According to the philanthropist, she is very astute mother who prioritises planning her life, so as to leave no room for emergencies. Akothee says that she makes sure all school fees, uniforms and shopping for the children she is sponsoring are taken care of by 24th or 25th of every month preceeding school re-opening.
But with this particular student named John, Akothee says he left hom on the 14th of August 2025, and never heard anything from him.
“I finalized everything for those who were present before I got admitted to hospital because there was nobody going to do it for me, I have students in differents schools that I support,” she says. “While lying on my death bed on Wednesday, I received a message from John at around 2:00 p.m. saying: ‘Mum, I have come back and I want to go to school, we are opening today.’ I was too weak to respond because I had just suffered a terrible attack.”
‘I have no energy left’
Two days later, John texted Akothee again, informing her that he went back to school, but was sent back home. “I gathered the little strength I had, took my phone, and asked him: ‘John, did you really go to school and how did you get there?’ He said ‘yes’. I asked him, ‘Why were you sent away?’. First he said ‘I don’t know’. So I sat down and raised my voice, ‘you don’t know why you have been sent back home?’ He said because of remedial fees and school fees. So I asked, ‘How much is the school fees?’. He answered, ‘I don’t know.’. ‘What about the remedial fees?’ Again, ‘I don’t know, maybe I should go and ask.'”
The response Akothee got from the boy did not satisfy her, and it only got her angry. “I am not supposed to stay long on the phone due to my condition, so I hung up slowly and since then I haven’t heard from John.”
She went further to lament how John is not appreciative, and how he has been hiding his report cards from her. “Does he even realize that my own biological children never trouble me with their upkeep? They finished school long ago without ever hiding report cards or making me chase after them the way John does. Most of the time, I don’t even get to see his report card because he hides it.”
She concluded: “I honestly have no more energy to raise an irresponsible boy. And yet, I still try. I still call. I still give him chances. But the way some of these children treat the help they are given breaks my heart. I have no energy left.”
Psychological counseling
One Facebook user, John Mongare, advised Akothee to introduce psychological counseling and mentorship in her program.
The same sentiment was shared by one Juliana Olayo, who said that sometimes the needy children are from very unstable family backgrounds, and one should not assume all they need is education without dealing with their mental health episodes.
Another Facebook user, Susan Jame’s, encouraged Akothee to deal with John the way she would deal with her own biological child misbehaving. “Keep on pushing him until he finishes school. One day he will thank you for being patient with him and for seeing him through.”
All in all, Akothee later updated that John has returned home and was ready to go back to school.
“Nimeshukuru mambo na therapy hiyo ni longterm sasa wacheni kutype John yuko nyumbani I need him back in school and I cant do it physically niko chini. Can someone step forward go to school and get me details of what exactly is needed and stand in for me for now? My mother is standing in for me today having parents meeting at Akothee Academy, I can’t burden her again.”
