Nyaga Alistair Murimi, a top performer at Nkubu High School in Embu County, was
offered a job just three days after the release of the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary
Education (KCSE) results. Murimi was offered a position by the Kenya Airlift
Programme, an initiative that helps postgraduate students study and work in the United
States.
With an A- in Agriculture, B+ in English, A- in Kiswahili, A in Mathematics, A- in
Biology, A- in Physics, A- in Chemistry, and B in CRE and Business Studies, Murimi
achieved a mean score of A-. Bob Mwiti, the Managing Director of Appstec America
LLC, an IT company, offered Murimi the job opportunity at the Kenya Airlift
Programme.
Mwiti revealed that he had actually funded Murimi’s high school education. “About four
years ago, I made a decision to fully sponsor a very needy kid from Mbeere, Embu
county, who had been admitted to Nkubu High School,” he said. Mwiti and Dennis
Kiogora, the Member of the County Assembly (MCA) for Abogeta West in Meru County,
founded the programme in 2018 after being inspired by the struggles of students in the
US during a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.
The Kenya Airlift Programme not only helps students move to the US for postgraduate
education, but also assists with acquiring visas and other travel documents. The
programme partners with a lending institution that provides loans to students, similar
to the Higher Educations Loans Board (HELB), and then recoups the money from the
student’s salary.
The only requirement for the programme is for students to take and pass the Graduate
Management Admission Test (GMAT) which costs around 25,000 Kenyan shillings.
“The lenders providing the funds, expect you to be bright, therefore, you have to pass
this exam,” the founders stated in a past interview.
It is clear that the Kenya Airlift Program is not only helping students like Nyaga Alistair
Murimi achieve their academic dreams but also providing them with job and career
opportunities in the US.
