Kenya’s Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge is the Oldest Person to Start Primary School at the age of 84 in 2004. He gained international fame and earned the Guinness World Record for becoming the oldest person to ever enroll in primary school. Born around 1920, Marūge made global headlines on January 12, 2004, when he walked into Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Eldoret, Kenya, to begin his very first day of school at the remarkable age of 84.
Growing up under British colonial rule, Marūge was denied the opportunity for a formal education, as schooling for Africans was heavily restricted.Instead of a classroom, his youth was shaped by the struggle for land and independence. In the 1950s, he joined the Mau Mau uprising as a guerrilla fighter battling against British colonial forces.
Following Kenya’s independence, he lived a humble life as a farmer, tilling land, raising a family, and residing in a simple mud hut. In 2003, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki introduced the Free Primary Education policy. This historic decision prompted Marūge to finally pursue his lifelong dream of learning.
Wearing the standard school uniform alongside six-year-olds, Marūge excelled. He passed his first end-of-term exams with top marks and was elected Head Boy of Kapkenduiywo Primary School in 2005. In September 2005, Marūge boarded an airplane for the first time. He traveled to New York City to address the United Nations World Summit on the vital importance of free universal education.
His education was violently interrupted during the 2007–2008 post-election violence. His home in Eldoret was destroyed, forcing him into a refugee camp and later a retirement home in Nairobi.
On August 14, 2009, Marūge passed away from stomach cancer at Kenyatta National Hospital at the age of 88 (or roughly 89)
