Kibaki’s Exemplary Performance in Highschool.

Kibaki was ranked first in a class of 32 on a 1947 report card from the school, then known as Holy Ghost College.

He received a whopping 779 points. He received 77, 66, and 78 in Arithmetic, Geometry, and Algebra, respectively, in Mathematics

He received 70 and 86 points in History and Geography, respectively.

Kibaki Githinji, his peasant father, sent him to mission school because he was "not very useful in the garden."

"In 1939 a barefoot Kibaki left home for the newly established, 50 cent-a-term Gatuyaini village school put up by the Consolata Missionaries. Here they taught the new arrivals catechism and elementary education

"And thus, started Mr Kibaki’s passionate association with education and his Catholic faith. It also launched a brilliant career in academics and politics," his tribute reads.

Kibaki attended Holy Ghost Catholic Missionaries Karima Mission School (now Karima Primary) for three years after graduating from Gatuyaini Primary, walking 10 kilometers to and from school every day.

He passed his exams and transferred to Mathari School, which has since been renamed Nyeri High School, and his father was forced to sell two goats in order to pay the annual Ksh18 boarding fee. He learned carpentry and masonry at Mathari and assisted fellow students in repairing furniture around the school.

Kibaki was then accepted at Holy Ghost College, which is now known as Mangu High School.

Following his O Levels, he enrolled at Makerere University, where he became the first African to receive a first-class honours degree.

He enrolled in 1951 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, History, and Political Science. He was a member of the Makerere Students Guild and served as Vice Chairman (1954-1955).

Despite dividing his time between student leadership and studies, he graduated in 1955 as one of the top students in the Faculty of Arts, with a First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Economics.