The 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) theory examinations began on Monday, November 3, with 996,078 candidates participating nationwide.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok oversaw the distribution of English and Chemistry papers in Westlands, in Nairobi.
According to the timetable, Mathematics and English Literature will follow on November 4, 2025 while the second Chemistry paper and English essay are scheduled for November 5. Each paper has been spaced depending on its duration, with sessions set for morning and afternoon across the country.
On Thursday, November 6, 2025, students will take Kiswahili (Lugha) in the morning and Kiswahili (Fasihi) in the afternoon, marking the end of the first week of theory papers.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has assured that all examination materials have been dispatched and that security measures have been put in place to ensure smooth and credible tests are conducted nationwide, including smart digital locking systems.
The government has also put in place contingency plans to prevent disruptions caused by the ongoing heavy rains.
Meanwhile, 14 candidates are among the 26 people who lost their lives in a deadly landslide in Elgeyo Marakwet, with 25 others still reported missing.
The 2025 KCSE exam began on October 21, 2025, with oral and practical papers, and is scheduled to end on November 21, 2025, after the written examinations.
The death toll in the landslide at Chesongoch, Kerio Valley, Elgeyo-Marakwet lanslides has reached 15 after recovery of five more bodies.
Interior cabinet secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says 30 people are still missing as the rescue operation continues.
The landslides occurred Saturday morning, following heavy rainfall, sweeping away several homes.
Several people have been rescued in a joint operation by the military, police and Kenya Red Cross and are receiving treatment at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and other health facilities.
Government security agencies and humanitarian emergency organizations then quickly pooled efforts for a rescue mission. The rescue operation by the military and police choppers has seen tens of survivors moved to safety, while those injured were airlifted to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Chesongoch Mission Hospital and other nearby facilities for treatment.
Currently, all transport activities in the area have been paralyzed due to floods and landslides, with residents being advised to avoid travelling until flood water subsides.
The weatherman has warned that heavy rainfall and thunderstorms are expected in Elgeyo-Marakwet and other counties, including West-Pokot, Homa Bay, Murang’a, Nairobi and several other parts of the Country.
For many years Mrs. Leah Kiptarus from Kapteren village Keiyo North sub county engaged in brewing of chang’aa to help her husband bring up their family. It was a life full of chaos, she says as she was constantly in conflict with the law.
Mrs. Kiptarus says fights would erupt anytime at her home as drunk men and women fought while most of the money she made would go to paying fines whenever she was arrested. But all this is in her past now after the government through the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) embarked on the rehabilitation of Etio dam.
Being tired of the chaos that characterized her life, Mrs. Kiptarus saw an opportunity to better her life and started cooking for the workers. “For the one year the dam was under construction, I used to make Sh.19,000 every week,” she said.
The money assisted her to take one of her children to the Kenya Medical Training College. After getting money through legal means, she didn’t look back.
As she cooked for the workers she also started growing traditional vegetables but it became quite tedious as during the dry season she would be forced to fetch water to water the plants from the family borehole.
When the dam was completed early this year, she was overjoyed as she bought pipes and embarked on farming of traditional vegetables locally known as managu which she used to sell from traders from neighbouring Uasin Gishu county.
“This area gets very dry especially in the first months of the year with the prices of vegetables sky rocketing. With irrigation from the dam, I was able to make Sh.5,000 every week from the sale of managu,” she proudly narrated.
This planting season, Mrs, Kiptarus has diversified to the growing of capsicum and as she says, she is now a role model in her village. “My home is at peace, I no longer fear being arrested thanks to the dam and I have time to engage in social activities,” she says as she rushes to join other women in playing football.
Edwin Tarus a BA education graduate of Masinde Muliro university has also been using the water from the dam to engage in growing of cabbages, kales and managu. He says he earns between Sh25,000-Sh30,000 a month.
“This may look like little to some people but remember that I do not pay rent, nor spend money on transport plus I get most of the food from the farm,” he said.
Tarus who graduated in 2019 says he grew up in the farm with his father who was a teacher introducing him to farming which he says is so satisfying especially due to the fact that he is his own boss.
Tarus is calling on his fellow youth to consider farming instead of waiting for the elusive white collar jobs saying it has better returns.
And for 24-year-old Justus Kiplimo, the dam couldn’t have come at a better time. Kiplimo who sat for his KCSE in 2021 like many youths started a bodaboda business. But with increasing competition and the other challenges associated with the business like the cold, he transitioned to farming.
Kiplimo says he engages in passion farming and is able to make ends meet. The youth harvests up to 50 kilogrammes of the fruit every week and with a kg going for Sh.70 he is able to make Sh3,500. He remains optimistic that the prices will improve adding he intends to expand his venture using the water from the dam in order to make more profits.
Idi Mubarak Kipchirchir an avocado farmer says the dam is a game changer in the area saying solar panels are used to pump the water to the farms. He says previously they used to wake up at 4.00am in the morning during the dry season to get water from streams in the area to water their farms using watering cans and therefore it was difficult for one to expand their farming ventures.
Kipchirchir says he is practicing agro forestry with 170 avocado trees plus a nursery which has fruit, exotic and indigenous seedlings adding that he also grows short season crops like pyrethrum and vegetables as he can comfortably do irrigation using water from Etio dam.
The KVDA MD Sammy Naporos says he is happy that farmers from the area have already embraced irrigation using water from the Sh80 million dam to mitigate against drought.
An aerial view of the Etio dam in Keiyo North sub county rehabilitated by the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA). It will serve 4,500 households and irrigate 6,000 acres.
Naporos said this is the direction the government has adopted of constructing medium size dams which are cost effective and meet the needs of farmers noting they are projecting that farmers in the area will be earning Sh200,000 per acre per season.
The MD said the dam will serve 4,500 households and irrigate approximately 6,000 hectares in addition to supplying water for domestic use to Kapteren and Simotwo villages. He added that soon, they would embark on the second phase of the project which will cost Sh150 million.
“The second phase will include the desilting of the dam to provide more water and the construction of mega tanks to supply water to Kessup, Tambach and far areas like Cheptebo and Rimoi in the Kerio Valley,” he said.
To conserve the Kessup eco system, the MD said KVDA will establish a nursery to provide fruit and tree seedlings to farmers adding that on July 12th during the commissioning of the dam by the President, a total of 30,000 avocado seedlings will be distributed.
He added that as part of their efforts to ensure that farmers diversify their economic activities, KVDA had already trained farmers on fish farming and will soon provide them with fingerlings.
Naporos said KVDA had also desilted Yokot dam in the same sub county saying with the two dams, the area will have adequate water not only for irrigation but also for domestic use.
The MD says the dam is not only contributing to provision of employment opportunities but also food security which are key in the government’s Bottom up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Cassava, once seen as a crop for desperate times, is now the heartbeat of a quiet agricultural revolution reshaping the fortunes of dryland farmers in this part of Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Thanks to climate-smart innovations and renewed interest in drought-resilient crops, cassava has emerged as a lifeline for hundreds of families living in the valley’s semi-arid belt, where unreliable rainfall and frequent dry spells have historically made farming a gamble.
“I used to plant maize year in, year out but every time the rains failed, so did my harvest,” says Rebecca Kilimo, a smallholder farmer from Tot in the lower Kerio Valley. “In 2019, I tried cassava for the first time after a training by the Ministry of Agriculture and local extension officers. That changed my life,” she said.
Today, Rebecca tends to a two-acre cassava farm, harvesting tubers that are not only drought-tolerant but also fetch good prices in local markets. Her income has doubled, and her family no longer worries about going hungry when the rains delay.
Cassava’s ability to thrive in poor soils, withstand heat, and survive prolonged dry periods makes it ideal for dryland regions like Kerio Valley. With proper spacing, disease-resistant varieties, and good post-harvest handling, the crop can yield up to 25 tons per hectare a game-changer for food security.
The transformation hasn’t happened by accident. Organizations like the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and international partners have introduced improved cassava varieties such as KME 1 and KME 2, which mature faster and resist pests like cassava mosaic disease.
In Elgeyo Marakwet, the county government has incorporated cassava into its climate adaptation strategy.
“Cassava is no longer a poor man’s crop. It’s a smart crop,” says Sub County Agriculture Officer Raymond Cheboi.
“We’ve supported farmers in Kerio Valley to diversify their crops with cassava. Many are now producing for food and commercial use,” said Cheboi.
He added that the county is also working with farmers to expand cassava acreage, introduce improved disease-resistant varieties, and set up value-addition facilities for cassava flour, crisps, and animal feed.
The impact is also visible among the youth. Across the valley in Arror, 29-year-old Daniel Kipkemoi shares a similar success story.
After years of searching for employment without success, Daniel turned to farming, a decision he now calls “the best of my life.”
“Cassava gave me back my dignity,” he says. “I started with just half an acre. Now I manage five acres and run a small flour processing business. I supply cassava flour to shops in Eldoret and Kabarnet,” he adds.
Daniel also leads Smart Farmers, a youth group providing training and starter seedlings to aspiring agripreneurs. The group is helping young people tap into cassava’s potential both as a food and a cash crop.
Other farmers like Elijah Cheboi in Arror are expanding cassava cultivation beyond subsistence. With three acres under cassava, he supplies local schools and hotels with fresh roots and is in talks with a buyer from Uasin Gishu County.
“Cassava has made me less dependent on food aid or loans. Even when maize fails, I still have cassava in the ground,” he says with pride.
While challenges such as lack of irrigation, pests, and limited access to mechanized tools remain, the growing success stories from Kerio Valley offer hope.
Experts believe cassava could be the key to building climate resilience not only in Elgeyo Marakwet but across Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands.
As Rebecca prepares to plant her third cassava crop, she smiles saying; “We were once at the mercy of the weather. But now, with cassava, we are farming smarter not harder.”
Principal Secretary for Medical Services, Harry Kimtai, together with Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wesley Rotich, led a tree planting exercise at Yokot Kapteren Dam as part of the Presidential 15 Billion Tree Initiative.
The exercise brought together CEOs of state agencies under the Ministry of Health and the local community to promote environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
Speaking during the event, PS Kimtai emphasised the importance of tree planting in protecting water sources and improving public health.
He highlighted the Ministry’s strategy of planting fruit trees such as mangoes, avocados, passion fruits, and oranges to not only enhance environmental conservation but also support food security and economic empowerment.
“A good environment contributes to better health and food security. As a State Department, we are committed to promoting both environmental sustainability and good health practices,” he said.
PS Kimtai further encouraged the local community to establish tree nurseries, noting that the government has created a ready market for seedlings.
He urged residents to take advantage of this opportunity to improve their socio-economic well-being while contributing to national reforestation efforts.
Additionally, the PS sensitised the community on Social Health Authority (SHA) registration, emphasizing the benefits of enrolling in the new health system for improved access to medical services.
The exercise aligns with the government’s strategy of integrating environmental conservation with public health to ensure a sustainable future.
In a significant move to combat severe malnutrition and improve maternal and child health in Kenya, World Vision and the Elgeyo Marakwet County Government have launched two transformative health projects aimed at significantly improving maternal and child health and nutrition in the County.
World Vision and partners are advancing a combined investment $6.04 million (Ksh 803.4 million) to impact over one million people in Elgeyo Marakwet County over the next decade through the Global Affairs Canada-funded REACTS IN (Realizing Gender Equality, Attitudinal Change & Transformative Systems in Nutrition) Project and the BMZ-funded Grow ENRICH (Enhancing Nutrition Services to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Africa) Project.
According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2022, in Elgeyo Marakwet, 22% of children under five are stunted, 4.8% are wasted, and 13.9% are underweight, and just 25.5% of children under two receive the minimum dietary diversity required for healthy growth.
These projects are part of World Vision’s broader commitment to combating malnutrition and promoting gender equality in the region.
REACTS IN is a seven-year programme focused on improving nutrition, nutrition-related rights, and gender equality for the most vulnerable women, adolescent girls, and children under five years in Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Bangladesh, while the Grow ENRICH initiative is a four-year project designed to boost maternal and child health and nutrition by strengthening health and nutrition systems and implementing gender-sensitive strategies in Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania.
The timely projects will also seek to address gender inequality in the indicated regions, and help address challenges such as teenage pregnancy which stands at 12% in Elgeyo Marakwet compared to the national average of 15%; additionally, women in the County face higher rates of physical violence at 30% compared to the national average of 34%, according to KDHS 2022.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday, Elgeyo Marakwet Governor, Wisley Rotich, expressed gratitude to World Vision and partners for the investment, which promises to transform the lives of countless families in the County. “With poverty rates at 46% in Elgeyo Marakwet, higher than the national average, access to food is a significant challenge, leading to alarmingly high malnutrition rates among our children.
Astonishingly, in every 10 children in the County, five are uncertain of their next meal,” Governor Rotich stated, “Through these pivotal projects, we anticipate a major shift that will empower families to access sufficient food and lead more stable lives.”
He added that the projects will also help reduce harmful practices driven by food insecurity and poverty.
World Vision Board Member Dr Anne Kimari said, “Despite extensive efforts worldwide, malnutrition remains a pressing global public health issue. The situation in Elgeyo Marakwet is no different. We have children who are still facing high malnutrition and that is why we are here today,” she said, adding, “Through strong partnerships with Nutrition International, Harvest Plus, McGill University, Anglican Development Services (ADS), Kenya Agricultural Research Organizations (KALRO), the government, and local communities, we will strive to improving nutrition, nutrition-related rights, and gender equality for the poorest women, adolescent girls, and children under five.”
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of wasting of children under 5 years was 5.7 % in 2022, while under 5 mortality rates were 73 deaths per 1,000 live births – approximately 3 million in 2021.
In light of these alarming rates of stunting and hunger especially among children, World Vision has committed to focus the next three years on reducing hunger and improving nutrition for 125 million children across 67 countries where they are suffering most, 27 of those countries are in Africa, and 9 are in East Africa, including parts of Kenya, through its ENOUGH campaign, recently launched in Kenya.
The lack of a rescue centre for victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Elgeyo Marakwet County has become a major setback in the fight against vice in the county.
Members of the County Gender Sector Working Group said most of the SGBV victims do not report or record statements with the police which is key in court proceedings as they have to go back to their homes or communities where the perpetrators are.
The Keiyo North deputy county commissioner Julius Maiyo who chaired the meeting said most cases go unreported while others are thrown out of court for lack of evidence after victims fail to show up.
Maiyo said court cases are determined by provision of evidence and therefore where victims fail to give evidence or withdraw due to fear of intimidation from the perpetrators or their accomplices then the courts have no alternative but to throw out the case.
The DCC said his office receives many such cases especially those involving incest where a father or relative is involved saying such victims are at a loss whether to press charges given that they have to go back to the same home.
Members regretted that most perpetrators go scot-free and go on committing heinous crimes especially given that victims are vulnerable.
The members said that the government had committed to establishing SGBV recovery centres in all 47 counties but unfortunately, no resources have been allocated for the same.
They expressed concern that most of the victims especially children are taken all the way to Uasin Gishu thus increasing pressure on the centres in that county as they also have to deal with their own cases.
The meeting was told that some children who ran away from Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages are forced to stay in schools once they close since they may be forced to undergo the practices they ran away from if they go back home.
Members also decried the lack of a facility at the Iten police station specifically for children and other victims of SGBV.
The Keiyo North Sub County Police Commander Tom Makori said the police can avail a place where such a facility can be built adding that they have officers adequately trained for the same.
The meeting called on the police to come up with Bills of Quantities for the construction of the same which can be used to approach donors and other sponsors.
