Learners study under trees after lake swallowed Baringo schools

Jonathan Lekombe a father of four said before the lake swelled he was growing maize on a two-acre farm. He was displaced and had to be accommodated by a neighbour.

"I was among the first people to be affected by the swelling lakes, life is hard, we have no food, and our livestock died after we moved as we had no place to graze them. My home was also submerged," he said.

Lekombe said he has been paying fees for his deceased brother's child, a Form Three Student, who has now been forced to stay at home due to lack of fees.

In March, KCPE candidates in schools in Muchongoi wrote their examinations amid gunshots. Levis Kiptai, 16, was in pain to explain how his dream of becoming a doctor was deferred after he was forced to repeat Class Eight.

The pupil at Marigat Integrated Primary School said though he had performed well in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination his parents had no money to have him admitted to Form One.

"I got 336 marks, I am at pains to have repeated Class Eight,' he said

He is heartbroken as his parents have told him repeatedly that they had no money. His two brothers have also dropped out of school. He revealed that initially, his parents owned a number of livestock that were stolen by bandits. His mother fled leaving them with his father. She left after the raid.

With the scarcity of water and pasture, insecurity cases tend to go up as communities fight for the scarce commodity. Elijah Kipton, the headteacher of Kapindasum Primary School in Baringo South said he was forced to move out with the learners in February 2021 due to insecurity. He moved out to Chemorongion primary, seven kilometers away.

Chemorongion Primary School is home to learners from different schools of Arabal, Kasiela, Chebinyiny, Kapindasum.

George Okeyo, the Sub-County Director of Education, Baringo South said Marigat has been affected by climate change and insecurity in the past two years.
Okeyo noted that since 2019, insecurity has reigned on a massive scale and initially ten schools were displaced in the Mukutani and Muchongoi areas of Baringo South.

Due to insecurity six schools closed and are yet to be reopened. The schools include Arabal Primary and Secondary Schools, Ngelecha primary, Chebinyiny, Kapindasum Primary and Mukutani Primary.

Ngelecha primary school is closed and those in areas moved to some hills where there are no schools. At Arabal families moved out and the learners are scattered in various schools. Chebinyiny primary learners are hosted at Sosiende primary, while Kapindasum and Kasiela primary learners are at Chemorongion primary.

"Parents want to go back to their homes but they have nothing. The effect of both floods and insecurity means that several children who did well in KCPE could not join high school," Okeyo said.