Over 433,000 students scored Ds while 48,333 Es after the release of the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam results on January, 9.

Although many people might regard these students as failures because of low grades, Dr Silvanus Odhiambo Sewe sees them as potential achievers who can excel in fields like medicine, ICT, law and engineering.

Dr Sewe views himself as the perfect example. In the 1990 KCSE exams, he scored a D+ at Mwea Boys High School. Despite the low grade, he remained confident in his potential.

“I knew myself as a better student and remained committed to pursuing my dream,” he begins.

He advises students who scored low grades that, exams are just an event in the Kenyan education system, and life doesn’t end with participating in an event. That, the education system should never limit the aspirations or dreams of any learner in Kenya.

In November 2024, while being conferred a Doctor of Philosophy (Leadership and Governance) at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Dr Sewe felt elated.

He recalls his friends urging him to repeat exams and improve his grades, but firmly believed D+ was still the right path to his success.

He shares, his low grade was largely influenced by his absence in form three and four classes, after a fallout with the principal, opting for self-study.  

Dr Sewe, from Gem Sub County in Siaya County, sat for his KCPE in 1986 at Upper primary in Sagana and scored 59 out of 72 points, before joining Mwea Boys High School, in 1987.

In form one and being a talented footballer, Dr Sewe became one of the first eleven players on the school’s soccer team and was elected sports captain in the second term.

One of his responsibilities was to receive soccer equipment like uniforms, balls and boots from the games captain, distribute them to players, and after the match collect and hand them back to the games captain, who kept them in the store.

One day after a tournament in Kutus, as usual, he collected the boots and handed them to games captain for safekeeping. Unfortunately, games captain kept them in the classroom, and they were stolen.

The principal accused both Dr Sewe and games captain for the loss. It marked the beginning of a long strained relationship between Dr Sewe and the principal.

To punish him, the principal sent him home over fee arrears. Later, his father took him back to school but the principal still had an issue with Dr Sewe, forcing him to return home.

Dr Sewe missed classes for the entire third term in form two. In form three, his uncle intervened and the principal accepted him back. As fate would have it, on the second day after his return, students went on strike over poor food quality.

The principal accused Dr Sewe of having planned the strike. Seeing the principal still had a grudge against him, Dr Sewe left the school again.

Back home, he continued his passion for football, playing for Maji FC in Nairobi and spending time reading at the Macmillan Library. However, there were no coursebooks to help him with classwork.

In the fourth year, his uncle again intervened and had him register for KCSE exams. “At first my uncle declined saying l hadn’t attended classes in forms three and four, therefore l had nothing to write. I insisted that l had to,” he recalls.

He accepted a D+, as it reflected the challenges he faced in school. At that time, he didn’t fully understand that with his grade, he could start with a certificate and progress to a diploma and eventually earn a degree.

For over 15 years, Dr Sewe studied for 20 different certificates from various colleges within Nairobi. Later, in one of the colleges in 2006, a trainer saw his passion for education and encouraged him, to enrol for a diploma and progress with his academic journey. 

Feeling motivated, Dr Sewe enrolled for a diploma in Computer Studies, with the National Computing Council of United Kingdom (UK). This opened the door for a National Diploma at KCCT (now Multimedia University), followed by a degree in Business Information Technology at the University of Greenwich, completing 2011.

He immediately enrolled in a Masters of Business Administration (Corporate Governance) at KCA University and completed it in 2016, before embarking on a PhD at JKUAT.

“I was to complete my PhD in five years, but Covid-19 struck and took me eight years,” he says.

Throughout his academic journey, Dr Sewe has faced numerous financial challenges. He supported himself, through bank and Sacco loans. He started working as a labourer, digging trenches for the Nairobi City Council (NCC), and rose through the ranks while pursuing his education.

He recalls, that he once got an opportunity to study a Certificate course in Computer Forensic at KCA whose cost was Sh 80,000. He approached his employer for sponsorship but declined saying it wasn’t useful to the company.

He was one of the first people in Kenya to obtain a diploma in Private Investigations from the UK and has played a role in shaping security curriculums at various universities in the country, including Egerton University, which became the first to offer security courses.

As Chair of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Security Sector Board, Dr Sewe has been instrumental in the constitution reforms of Kenya, particularly in reviewing and aligning security laws with the 2010 Constitution.

“I contributed to critical pieces of legislation, including the National Police Service Act and Private Security Regulatory Act of 2016,” he explains, adding that one of his notable achievements was crafting the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act.

Currently, a Security Coordinator at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC), Dr Sewe prides himself as a highly accomplished leader in governance, risk management and organizational development.

The father of two children, aged 31 and 24 supports the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), believing if well implemented, it can provide opportunities just like the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) model.

This model creates avenues for individuals to build careers beginning from trade, and certificates to PhDs in a very specialised line. Through this, people with lower grades can become engineers, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians and hairdressers, among others.

He explains major challenge Kenyans have faced is the time the education system takes to help learners understand what they want.

“Its sad how we condemn those who score low grades. And in that spirit, we demotivate and demoralize making them think they are useless,” he explains, adding some people called him a failure, today, they are calling him by a title.

As Robert Kiyosaki, the American businessman and author said, ‘The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.’

Dr Sewe’s story serves as an inspiration to many who face challenges in their education or career paths.