Moi Girls School Nairobi is located between Kibera Drive and Joseph Kang’ethe Road
in Kibera Division of the Nairobi County, seven kilometers West of
Nairobi.
Moi Girls School Nairobi was founded by the Ministry of Education as a Girls’ Day Secondary School in February 1964, in the premises of the former Woodley Primary School.
It was initially intended to cater for children of the many unemployed and low-income bracket people, there having been no such a school in Nairobi before Kenya became independent. The School started as a single stream of 35 girls and two teachers.
The School’s first Headmistress was Mrs. Rebecca Njau and her deputy was Mrs. Edith Matiba. The school’s first Chairman of the Board was the late Rt. Rev. John Gatu.
Our History
The physical infrastructure of the new secondary school was on a seven-acre plot with six classrooms, an ablution block, a hall and store which became the Headteacher’s office/staff room and the Headteacher’s house. At the onset, the school realized that most girls experienced great difficulties finding appropriate accommodation and raising school fees as well as daily bus fare to and from school.
At this point, the school negotiated with the Ministry of Education for a school bus to collect the girls in the morning and drop them in the evening at the point nearest to their residential areas. Most of them lived in the Eastlands of the city.
Even with these facilities in place, it was soon realized that it did not solve the problems of lunch and accommodation. Thus in May 1965, the Ministry of Education allocated the school a vacant building near the present State House Primary School and was quickly turned into girls hostel to accommodate the whole Form I and II population of 105 girls.
This was only a short-term solution as the girls residential quarters were kilometers away from the tuition area. This became a new challenge for the new girls school to effectively co-ordinate the two school premises and at the same time continue to collect and drop the girls who were not accommodated in the hostels.
It was at this point that the USAID granted funds for the construction of an administration block and a 140 bed dormitory at the tuition premises and this was ready in January 1968. With this development, the Headmistress’s office became the kitchen and the small hall the dining and the girls moved to the newly constructed dormitory from the residence at the State House Primary School. The first single stream class did its ‘O’ level examination in 1967.
In January 1967, the school turned into a two-stream and continued to operate both as a day and boarding school. In 1970, it admitted its first ‘A’ level students swelling the number of day scholars. The criteria of deciding who became a day scholar or a boarder became more complex. The senior examination classes were given priority but it was not necessarily the most satisfactory method, taking into consideration the family backgrounds of most of the girls.
In 1974, the country’s then Vice President, His Excellency Hon. D.T. Arap Moi was kindly requested to officiate the school’s first harambee to help put up another hostel. He kindly agreed and the school was able to put up another 80 capacity bed dormitory which was opened in September 1975. From then, the Vice President supported the school’s Board of Governors and he, together with the Board, painstakingly helped transform the school into a fully five-streamed boarding outfit with all modern learning facilities.
The school from its formation stages has continued to excel in both the academic and co-curricular activities.
- Mrs. J. Nyamu was the founding principal of the school.
- Mrs. Margaret Mwaniki
- Mrs. Christine Kimalat
- Mrs. Jael Muriithi
- Mrs. Margaret Njaggah (Current Principal).
Her Alumni
Dr. Mumbu Munyao
Commissioner SRC
Nancy Githungu
Auditor General
Asha Mohammed
C.E.O Red Cross
Hon. Martha Karua
Former Minister for Justice & constitution Affairs and senior counsel
Prof. Oliver Mugenda
Former Vice-chancellor Kenyatta University and current member of the Judicial Service Commission
Mrs. Virginia Gitonga
Nancy Githungu Chief Principal – Alliance Girls High School