Four years ago, Harrison Ettyang hit the headlines for his rare determination to achieve his childhood dream — to fly an aircraft.
In 2005, at the age of 19, Harrison Ettyang wanted to fly a makeshift aircraft, but after an abortive take-off in Kitale town, he changed his focus to other electronic ventures.
Far from receiving a pat in the back, his ambition landed him in police custody. A Bungoma court fined him Sh10,000 for attempted suicide but this did not deter him from pursuing his course.
For two years, Ettyang had drawn attention with his daring aircraft venture, which was not to be as his plane demonstration failed, landing him in hospital then in court.
After several hours of fine-tuning the aircraft for his take-off attempt, with thousands of spectators waiting, his contraption ran along the ground but hit an embankment at Kenyatta Stadium in Kitale, injuring him badly.
"After the accident that almost cost me my life, I decided to read extensively, do research and now I am back to the drawing board to finish what I started," he said.
He started an FM radio station, which he calls Agape Community Radio, in his rural village in Teso District, which also caused him trouble with law enforcers who ordered him to switch it off because he had no permit from the Communications Commission of Kenya.
The youth has now made a mobile electric board which he calls an ‘electric vehicle’ operated by a car battery. He claims to have sold it recently to a Kitale-based Asian businessman at Sh20,000.
The ‘vehicle’, a flat board on four wheels propelled by a mortar, moves at a slow speed but can be used for short movements like in a factory compound, he says.
We found him working on a simple home-made generator that he says will be user friendly and can be used to power house hold appliances.
Former Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Katakwa diocese, Bishop Eliud Okiring called on the Government to support and enable the young man explore his God-given talent.
Born in 1986, Ettyang did not attend Standard One and Two in primary school, but was instead placed straight in Standard Three for his demonstrated abilities. "I dropped out of primary school and enrolled at Malil Youth motor vehicle mechanics where I studied Mechanics Grade Two and Three," he says.
Ettyang resumed his studies at Kocholia primary school in Standard Seven in 2001 and sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) the following year.
He scored 350 marks and was admitted at St Joseph’s Kocholia Secondary School where he demonstrated his ability in a science congress.
He made a fire alarm then the following year, 2004, he made a miniature replica of a steam engine. He scored a mean grade of C+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).But he says his efforts to secure admission in any Aviation college in the country have been unsuccessful as the minimum requirement is B+ in KCSE.
He spends his time in his house working on his inventions or at a local DSTV screen area to watch new scientific inventions.