Schools in Baringo yet to open as insecurity persists

Acting police Inspector-General Samuel Arachi (second right), Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi (right) and MPs Grace Kipchoim (Baringo South) and William Cheptumo (Baringo North) at Lake Bogoria shortly before touring conflict-hit areas in Baringo on March 3, 2015. Many schools in the county are yet to reopen due to insecurity. PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Villages and schools have been deserted with some areas remaining inaccessible for the past two months.
  • At Arabal Primary School, the headteacher took advantage of an escort by some police officers to collect vital documents and certificates from the school.
  • According to Obeta Sirma, Baringo South Sub-County Administrator, 28 schools have been closed while over 16,400 people have been displaced.
  • An education officer, David Lechamakany said over ten headteachers from Mukutani and Muchongoy areas had approached him seeking to terminate their services.

Close to two months after schools reopened for the 2015 first term, 28 schools in Baringo County are still closed due to increased insecurity and increased cases of cattle rustling.

Villages and schools have been deserted, with some areas remaining inaccessible for the past two months.

Education officers say some headteachers have threatened to resign saying that they could not continue risking their lives.

To get to Arabal Primary School, a civilian has to seek police escort as locals warn of possible attacks.

Along the way, the red-coloured ripe wild fruits are part of the evidence of a deserted area.

“These fruits, commonly known as muyenik, would not be here, children would have picked them on their way to school,” said Arabal Primary School headmaster Mr Joel Kiptui.

Heaps of soil are also evident in bushes along the way, and an observer would be forgiven for mistaking them for graves.

However, they were meant to produce charcoal, only for the owners to leave without removing the burnt wood from the ground.

At some places, logs that were supposed to be burnt to charcoal are rotting away on the ground.

ESCORTED BY POLICE

At Arabal Primary School, the headteacher took advantage of an escort by some police officers to collect vital documents and certificates from the school.

“This is the second time I am coming here since schools reopened in January,” said Mr Kiptui.

Although the government has deployed ten police officers to guard the school, Mr Kiptui, whose own house is now home to ants, said nobody goes near the school.

He could not account for the 246 pupils in the school.

All he knows is that a majority of them are out of school while others have joined "safer" schools near Marigat Town.

A classroom at Chemolong’on Primary School is still littered with shoes, lunch containers, a drum and stationery.

This had been a safe haven for some displaced pupils until February 26.

“It was around 3pm during an English lesson when we heard gunshots. Pupils and teachers ran for their lives,” said Joseph Kipsang’, a Standard Five pupil at the school.

Kipsang, 11, is among the pupils who have stopped going to school for fear of attacks.

According to Obeta Sirma, Baringo South Sub-County Administrator, 28 schools have been closed while over 16,400 people have been displaced since the onset of conflict in parts of Baringo late 2014.

“The displacement has led to illegal economic ventures such as poaching in Lake Bogoria National reserve,” he said.

Deforestation, he added, is on the increase as displaced families, most of whom lost their livestock, struggle to make ends meet.

An education officer, David Lechamakany, said over ten headteachers from the Mukutani and Muchongoy areas had approached him seeking to terminate their services.

“The headteachers said they could not bear the pressure to keep schools running yet teachers were not willing to risk their lives,” said Mr Lechamakany.

His last attempt to ensure learning continued was when he ordered two headteachers to report to Chemolong’on Primary School.

Lechamakany said he wanted them to organise pupils' registration for the 2015 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam, whose deadline is at the end of March.

“Unfortunately, the school was deserted the same day they reported, leaving me confused and embarrassed,” said Lechamakany

Some teachers, he said, are now seeking transfers to safer areas, having given up on possible lasting peace.

“I had always associated conflict in this area with cattle rustling. But now that it is still going on even when locals have lost almost all livestock, I conclude that this is no longer about the livestock alone,” said a disturbed Mr Lechamakany.