Police tell teachers attacked by pupils in Samburu to record statements

Kirimon Primary School in Samburu where pupils caned five female teachers on July 19, 2017. Police want the victims to record statements so that the suspects can be arrested. PHOTO | GODFREY OUNDOH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Samburu County Police Commander Alfred Ageng’o has asked the teachers to record statements.
  • The pupils said they were angry with their female teachers whom they accused of mistreating them.
  • They also said they were not impressed that most of their teachers are female.
  • Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal condemned the incident

Police have asked five Kirimon Primary School teachers who were confronted and beaten up by their pupils to record statements.

Samburu County Police Commander Alfred Ageng’o said this will help with investigations into the matter and to bring the perpetrators to book.

He was speaking to the Nation at the Samburu Central Police Station in Maralal Town on Friday.

A group of Standard Six pupils at the school in Samburu East held their teachers hostage in a dramatic incident on Monday, forcing them to kneel down with their hands raised as they beat them with clubs.

The pupils said they were angry with their female teachers, whom they accused of mistreating them by severely and unnecessarily punishing them.

LETTER TO BOM

In a letter to the school’s board of management explaining why they beat up their teachers, they also said they were not impressed that most of their teachers are female.

Mr Ageng’o said on Friday that the case was reported to his office soon after it happened and investigations started.

But he claimed none of the victims had reported to the station to record a statement about the attack.

“A report was made to us about the attack on teachers at Kirimon Primary School on Monday and we were told that five female teachers were injured. So far we have not seen any of the victims,” he told the Nation.

“We know some of them are not in the county today, but we are calling upon them to come and record their statements to allow us to pursue the matter further and bring the suspects to book,” he said.

ARREST SUSPECTS

He said statements from the victims will also help police identify the suspects, arrest them and have them charged in court.

On Thursday, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said the affected teachers had already been transferred to safer schools.

“I want to assure you that TSC has moved those teachers to other safer schools and we have instructed the county director of education to deploy them because we must recognise the worth of our teachers,” she said in Mombasa.

Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chairman Indimuli Kahi also condemned the incident and called for better security for teachers working in hostile environments.

TRANSFER LETTERS

One of the assaulted teachers, who spoke to the Nation but declined to be identified, confirmed that they had been contacted by the TSC on Thursday and asked to collect their redeployment letters by Tuesday.

The teachers fled the county after the attacks, fearing for their lives.

Four of the teachers are not locals and it is suspected this may have contributed to the incident.

Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal and county Kenya National Union of Teachers Executive Secretary Raphael Leshalote condemned the incident.