Pupils stay away over insecurity

By LIBAN GOLICHA and BOAZ KIPNGENO

Moyale: Tension remains high in Moyale as thousands of pupils and students failed to return to school for the first term of the school year over insecurity. Most schools within Moyale town remain closed.

It is believed that parents and their children had fled to Ethiopia following recent clashes in the area.

Few private schools that re-opened yesterday recorded a low turn-out.

Moyale District Education Officer Galm Golicha confirmed yesterday that 90 per cent of schools in the area failed to re-open yesterday.

Last Saturday, four people and 11 camels were killed in Odha as two communities clashed over control of a water point.

The education boss noted that the violence had caused fear since parents were not willing to release their children to go to school.

Moyale police boss Nehemiah Lang’at, however, said calm had returned to the volatile border town.

Most parents who spoke to The Standard in Moyale expressed fear of fresh attacks despite 24-hour surveillance by the military.

“Majority of the people have crossed into Ethiopia seeking refuge. This has affected the school programme a lot. The few who had returned also withdrew following the Odha incident; they feared fresh attacks,” Harro Wario, a parent, said.

Meanwhile, Moyale Knut branch officials have directed teachers in hotspot areas to stay away until normalcy returns.

Addressing journalists in his office yesterday, local branch chairman Abduba Golicha said teachers should remain at home until their respective areas are secured.

He urged the Government to provide maximum security to schools during working hours.

And a school in violence-prone Baragoi failed to re-open yesterday.

Kawap Primary School was badly hit by repeated raids late last year, which led to displacement of over 10,000 people.

The school, with a population of 327, was also partly damaged by unknown bandits last year after raids between neighbouring Turkana and Samburu communities intensified.

Samburu County Commissioner Wilfred Nyagwanga said all schools in Samburu North resumed learning except Kawap Primary School.

Nyagwanga said the security situation has improved and urged parents to take their children to school.

“Security in places around Tuum and Marti is stable and we urge locals to take their children to school,” Nyagwanga said.

He added that calm has returned to Baragoi and learning should continue without any disturbance.

“We also encourage residents to talk to each other to find a way forward to improve the county’s recent KCPE results, which registered a good improvement from position 30 to 22,” said the commissioner.

According to Kawap Primary School head teacher Andrew Lojokin, the leading candidate scored 346 marks despite being out of school for several weeks.

“The school had a mean score of 211 from 22 candidates even though we were badly affected by clashes and everyone had migrated far from the school,” said Lojokin over the phone.

Samburu North Teachers Service Commission Staffing Officer Zachayo Lang’at said most teachers resumed work.

“Schools in South Horr and Baragoi have resumed learning and teachers are ready to teach,” said Lang’at.

Baragoi schools topped in Samburu County rankings in the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education results released last week despite last year’s insecurity menace in the region.

Samburu County  was ranked in position 22 together with Trans Nzoia and Narok.  The best candidate from Samburu scored 420 marks.

And most hawkers in Makutano and Kapenguria townships in West Pokot County have switched to selling textbooks.

The hawkers cashed in on the last-minute rush by parents to buy school books and uniforms.

“I ordinarily sell second-hand clothes but during this season when schools re-open, I turn to textbooks, geometry sets and pens among other school items since there is always a ready market hence better returns from the quick turnover,” said James Macharia, a hawker.

A spot check by The Standard also established that the most sold items were set books and mathematical tables.

Second hand textbooks have also found a market as hawkers sold them at lower prices than bookshops.

A hawker along Lotodo Street who sought anonymity said he buys old set books from students after they sit their final examinations and resells them when schools re-open.

The trader added that he targets those who cannot afford to buy new ones from the bookshops because they are expensive.

Additional reporting by Wilberforce Netya