Alliance High School

Ask an Alliance alumnus about one of their main takeaways from high school and they will most likely refer to the school’s motto “Strong to Serve”. Alliance: the state of being joined or associated. A union.

‘The Good School’, as some like to refer to Alliance, was established in 1926, twenty miles outside of the administrative capital, by the Alliance of Protestant Missions. The founders were keen on empowering African students, and wanted the best for the school: from its faculty to the students it enrolled, to the school’s facilities. In selecting the Alliance headmasters, the Board of Governors managing the school employed either headmasters from top, established schools in the colony, or men with previous teaching experience. As for the students that would be admitted, there were two requirements: they would be Africans, and their primary exam performance would have to be superb.

George Arthur Grieve was the school’s first headmaster. He selected the first 27 students from around the colony. Mr. Grieve served until 1940 and handed over the leadership to the well-able hands of Edward Carey Francis. Before Mr. Grieve left, Alliance had started admitting a few bright African girls from around 1937. For this reason, the school maintained its omission of the word “boys” from its name. One of the pioneer Alliance girls was Joan Wambui Gitau, who was enrolled at Alliance in 1944; she went on to become the first African girl to get a Division 1 at Cambridge level. While on the subject of Cambridge, this Kikuyu-based school was the first secondary school that offered Cambridge School Certificate exams for Africans – qualifying them to enroll at universities.

But back to the second headmaster. Mr. Carey Francis was a stern disciplinarian very much needed at the school. His stated mission was to build up a character of students through discipline and obedience. Having previously served as headmaster in Maseno School, he was familiar with the western region (Kisumu, Navirondo, and Kisii) and the untapped brilliance manifesting in that area. During his tenure, more bright boys from Western Kenya were admitted to Alliance annually and the academic standard was set very high.

As alumni Kenneth Matiba notes in his memoir, ‘Aiming High’, “Mr. Francis had the priviledge of selecting the cream of the African boys in the country. As a result, Alliance High School public examination results were unequaled.”

While Alliance holds the title of being the first secondary school for Africans, it was, above all, an institution that was established to foster community and family – and the evidence is in the active alumni WhatsApp group and the Board of Governors who mainly consist of the Old Boys of Alliance.

These men – and women – that call this #KeSchool their alma mater will tell you about the later headmasters that moulded them into the leaders they are. Before them, other leaders emerged from this school. From Ronald Ngala to James Gichuru to Kenneth Matiba to J.D Otiende, the school has indeed produced men that have in one way or another positively shaped our country. The last of those mentioned, Otiende, was not only a former student but also a music teacher at Alliance and he organized the Alliance choir to sing the National Anthem in 1964.

On a lighter note, we can’t mention Alliance without referring to each form’s nicknames. Before A-levels was introduced at the school, the Form Is were called “singles”, the Form IIs “comrades”, the Form IIIs “retired officers, and the Form IVs “school tens”.

Alliance High School continues to nurture some of the country’s brightest students, equipping them with the discipline to lead and eventually push our country forward. Those that were made stronger in order to serve, tell us about the memories, the lessons and the friendships made at this school.