KCPE candidates in Turkana relocated over insecurity at border

By Lucas Ng’asike

Turkana, Kenya: Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates in the troubled Todonyang area on the border with Ethiopia in Turkana County have been relocated.

The Todonyang Primary School pupils in Turkana North district have been enrolled in other schools due to threats posed by Ethiopian Merille militia.

Teachers and all pupils were forced to flee the school and abandon learning activities after Merille militia from the neighbouring Ethiopia Omo Delta raided the area and killed several people.

Shut down

Todonyang Primary School head teacher Abdirisak Ahamed said they were forced to flee with children to a safer place after the militia raided the school and villages.

“We were forced to shut down the school and relocate children to other schools,” Ahamed said.

He said more than 280 children have been distributed to primary schools in the neighbouring locations in Lowarengak to create a conducive learning environment for them.

But Ahamed said most of the children are orphans after their parents were killed in the Todonyang massacre three years ago and a Catholic mission accommodated them.

The head teacher said six KCPE candidates, four boys and two girls, have been enrolled at Lowarengak boys and Lowarengak girls’ primary school from where they will sit their exam. According to him, several pupils have also dropped out of school as they have been forced to fend for their siblings after their parents were killed.

“We are not ready to return there until the Government assures us of security,” he said.

Turkana County Director of Education Dr Nicodemus Anyang said they could not risk the pupils’ lives.

And Turkana North OCPD Bernard Nyakwaka said more security personnel, including marine police, have been deployed to the area.