Five primary schools - Basuba, Milimani, Mangai, Mararani and Kiunga - in Lamu County have failed to open for 2018’s first term, following the eminent scare posed by the Somalia-based Al Shabaab militants.
Reports on Wednesday indicated that teachers and pupils kept away due to insecurity caused by al Shabaab, despite an assurance from Boni Enclave campaign director Joseph Kanyiri that the area is relatively secure and that learning could resume.
Mr Kanyiri has allegedly restored to trading accusations with teachers, arguing that teachers have deliberately failed to report back to work, while teachers maintained that they don’t feel safe at the time.
“Kenyans are entitled to government services and so any dithering will be dealt with expeditiously. People should stop fretting, panicking and being timid in the name of security concerns. The security in Basuba is fairly stable so learning can take place,” he said.
He added: "The security situation has really improved. Teachers and civil servants should go back to work.”
In December last year, reports emerged that the militants in the area resorted to using beautiful women, fondly referred to as ‘slay queens’, to gather intelligence before striking Kenyan security forces in a new onslaught.
The ladies who aimlessly roam in operation intensified areas such as Lamu and Garissa Counties, are deployed by Al Shabaab, poised as love seekers yet they are out for information gathering about the Kenyan forces.
TheNation exclusively reported in December reported that security officers who have been deployed for such operation have been targeted by women spies, who pounce on them in the guise of love making.
Villagers from Galmaghala, Ijara, Bodhei, Milimani, Basuba, Mararani, Ishakani and Kiunga areas revealed that they have been in the recent past forced to chase them out of their villages, in fear of attacks.
Police killed
Meanwhile, five policemen were on Tuesday killed in an attack on their vehicle in the northeast of Mandera County near the border with Somalia.
Mr Daniel Bundotich, the deputy county commissioner for Mandera South, said those killed included three police reservists, local civilians who usually assist the police and are assigned uniforms and arms.
“The militants also set on fire a police lorry ... The police officers were on patrol along Elwak-Kutolo when they were ambushed,” he told .
Dozens of Kenyan security personnel have been killed in recent months in the remote lands near the border with Somalia, in raids by the al Shabaab Islamist militants from Somalia.
Schools opened Tuesday amid a storm from stakeholders over the implementation of the new 2-6-3-3 curriculum to replace the 8-4-4, which Education CS Dr Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday said will totally be faced out in 2027. Already 170,000 teachers have been trained to take on the new curriculum.