This is the image of a broken system. John Mwangi Mwalili, a brilliant 15-year-old mind who scored a stunning 64 points in the KJSEA exams, should be sitting in a classroom at the prestigious Alliance High School. Instead, he is scavenging for plastic bottles at the Kware dumpsite in Mukuru, choking on toxic smoke to raise his school fees.

John’s story is a scathing indictment of the Ministry of Education’s 100% transition policy. While government bureaucrats pontificate about "Free Day Secondary Education," a child who conquered the odds to secure a slot at an academic giant is rotting in a garbage heap. His crime? Being born poor in a country where education is sold to the highest bidder.

Sh3 per Kilogram

"I want to be a doctor," John says, his voice steady despite the filth surrounding him. [...](asc_slot://start-slot-7)He earns a meager Sh3 for every kilogram of plastic he collects. [...](asc_slot://start-slot-9)On a "good day," he makes Sh150. The fees and requirements for Alliance High School stand at over KSh 120,000. Do the math. At his current rate, it would take him over two years of daily scavenging just to step foot in class.

• The Father’s Tears: His father, Nicholas Mwalili, a casual laborer, holds the admission letter like a sacred relic. "I have knocked on every door. I have tried. But my hands are tied," he says, a parent’s worst nightmare unfolding in real-time.
• The System Failure: While politicians flaunt millions in harambees for churches, a future neurosurgeon is risking disease and injury to buy a school uniform. Where is the constituency bursary? Where is the equity?
• The Call to Action: This is not just John’s fight; it is our collective shame. Kenyans of goodwill must intervene where the state has failed.

John Mwalili has done his part. He studied by candlelight, he passed, and he is willing to work in a dumpsite to learn. The question is, will Kenya fail him? If we let this dream die in the Kware dumpsite, we are not a nation; we are a crime scene.