Kibuye pupils protest alleged grabbing of school playground

Morning classes at Kibuye Mixed Primary School in Kisumu County have been interrupted after pupils stormed out of the institution to protest over the alleged grabbing of their playground.

The learners, in their hundreds, Thursday brought down the iron sheet fence that had been erected around the piece of land by their neighbours, Kisumu Rotary Youth Vocational Training Centre.

According to the school’s Board of Management (BoM) Chairman John Angasa, the playground was allegedly grabbed by the institution on Tuesday and efforts to have it returned have been futile.

FENCED OFF

“The playground was fenced off by our neighbours on Tuesday, claiming it belongs to them. We are wondering why now because it has been the (Kibuye) school’s property since inception in the 1970s,” lamented Mr Angasa.

The chairman said that at the Land office in Kisumu, details indicate that the piece of land belongs to Kibuye School and that the deputy county commissioner promised to send police officers to stop its grabbing.

LAND DOCUMENTS

“Land documents have shown that the piece of land belongs to Kibuye Mixed Primary School and they (Kisumu Land office) asked us to do a protest letter which we did but no action has been taken since then,” said Mr Angasa.

But, Kisumu Rotary Youth Vocational Training Centre Principal Richard Ooko accused teachers at Kibuye of inciting pupils to pull down a wall.

He said the piece of land belongs to the training centre and it was fenced off by a contractor who had been hired by the institution to improve its state.

“This land belongs to Kisumu Rotary Youth Vocational Training Centre and we do not know why Kibuye Mixed Primary School are raising issues over it,” said Mr Ooko.

He went on, “The development we want to do here is going to help all the residents of Kisumu so our neighbours should not stifle the process.”