BY MWANAHABARI REPORTER
Brigadier (Rtd) John Kibaso Warioba, the lanky officer tasked with restoring sanity in the prisons department after Kamiti jailbreak saga, spent his early minutes of life hustling on the shores of Lake Victoria in Muhuru Bay village – fishing.
Indeed, as a child growing up, Warioba, and like any kid in Muhuru Bay, Migori County, at the time, Warioba spent his early days engaging in innocent fishing activities in the lake – more as a rite of passage.
Those who grew ups with him say that although he would juggle between books – and fishing – his heart belonged to the classroom.
It was a surprise
And so it was headline story especially to his kith and kin in Muhuru – and former school mates when President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Warioba to replace Wycliffe Ogalo on Wednesday, November 17 as head of prisons after three criminals escaped from Kenya’s most guarded correction facility.
“Most of us stuck to fishing, but he kept pushing the limits at a time when no one understood the value of education. The parents, children and virtually everyone only knew one thing – fishing,” a source who went to school with Kibaso told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
After his primary school education, Warioba would join Homa Bay High School. After completing his high school education – Warioba found himself with some time in his hands as he awaited his next move.
That meant going back to the shores to the shores of Lake Victoria – in Mugabo – Wuoth Orumo – (which literally means that the journey has ended).
Fishing village
Indeed, this is the furthest end of Kenya – where the only thing that greets your eyes is the expansive Lake Victoria; the waves, the infamous Migingo – and flickering lights in bordering Tanzania.
Warioba was contracted as an untrained teacher at Rabwao Secondary School. The school had just been started – but had no teachers – and even students were just a handful.
It was here that a fired up Warioba became the head teacher.
“The school had just started. In fact, we all taught for free. There were no enough students to even pay school fees – and so we taught together with Warioba as young men from secondary school,” a retired teacher who hails from Muhuru Bay told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
He added: “Sometimes the parents would pay us Ksh200 per month as some form of thank you. That is just about how much we took home – including Warioba.
Chewed books
“I could tell right away that Warioba was destined for big things – and that has come to pass,” added the retired teacher who asked us to keep his name anonymous.
Warioba would later join the military as a cadet officer and rose through the ranks. He attended King’s College in the United Kingdom for a Masters of Arts in international security and Strategy merit.
In 2014 he was promoted to a powerful position in the military. Uhuru promoted him to Brigadier and Commander 2 Brigade from his colonel position.
In 2015 he was conferred with the Second Class: Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (E.B.S.) for his distinguished and outstanding service as a military officer.
Grossly soiled CV
In 2019, he was picked to oversee the countrywide recruitment of KDF officers as the Chief Recruiting Officer (CRO). He also served as Commandant of the School of Infantry before his retirement.
And now Uhuru has recalled him from retirement t and tasked him with cleaning the Prisons department which has grossly soiled CV – after four prisoners escaped from lawful custody in a span of two months.
His area MCA – Hevron Mairah thanked the president for remembering the Suba community – a minority tribe that has lived in Muhuru-Bay for over a century.
“As the Muhuru Ward MCA, I am delighted. This is good news for Kenya, and for Suba people. It shows that ours is an inclusive society where even the minority can have a voice and a role to play in building the nation,” Mahira said.
Meanwhile, Warioba joins a list of other military officers that Uhuru has turned to in an attempt to sanitize the country.