More than 2,000 students from Kathieno B Sub-Location in Ugenya, Siaya County, gathered on Sunday, June 14 at Bar Ndege for an education and mentorship drive aimed at keeping youth in school and eradicating the regional illicit brew trade.

​The initiative, spearheaded by area Assistant Chief Joash Omondi Ogola, offers a community-led alternative to illegal alcohol brewing by directly addressing the financial vulnerabilities of local families.

​Upon taking office, Assistant Chief Ogola was tasked with cracking down on illicit brewing and ensuring a 100 percent student transition rate to secondary schools. However, dialogue with the community revealed a systemic link between economic hardship and local crime.

​”I sat down with the brewers, and a number of them told me that the reason why they are brewing is that they can’t afford paying school fees,” Ogola said. “I decided to come up with ways of reducing the issues of illicit brew by cushioning them.”

​Speaking at Bar Ndege during the mentorship forum, Ogola explained that through the Kathieno B Education Foundation, his office pools resources with sponsors and senior government officials to cover outstanding fee balances, buy uniforms, and supply sanitary care items for vulnerable children.

The strategy has successfully driven university enrollment among local youth from roughly 20 percent to an estimated 75 percent. “You walk to every home in Kathieno B, you find there is a graduate,” Ogola noted.

​Local leaders and beneficiaries say the initiative has fundamentally altered the area’s security and academic landscape.

James Ochwodo Odwala, a senior village elder, noted that continuous mentorship has effectively eliminated cases of student unrest.

Onyango Beinter, a student currently undergoing teacher training at Bomet University, credited the foundation for keeping her academic dreams alive.

​The drive has also drawn institutional backing.

The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) dispatched a coordinator to sensitize attendees on the dangers of substance abuse, while also donating sanitary towels to over 1,000 schoolgirls to curb absenteeism.

​Ogola appealed for formal corporate social responsibility partnerships to expand the program. “We started in a small way, but today we have moved a notch higher,” he said.