2022 exam crisis: Why many North Rift candidates may not sit tests

Many candidates in insecurity-hit counties of the North Rift may not sit this year’s national examinations after they fled their homes due to fresh attacks that claimed seven lives in the last two days.

Several examination centres have been moved, with some candidates yet to be found due to incessant flare-ups.

In Baringo North and Baringo South sub-counties, several exam centres have been moved to safer areas due to the spate of bandit attacks that have also displaced residents from their homes.

The most recent attacks on Friday and Saturday saw more than seven people killed in less than 12 hours, with three nursing gunshot wounds.

Four people were shot dead in separate incidents in Kasiela and Sinoni villages in Baringo South, sparking a mass exodus of locals to safer areas in Kabel and Mochongoi, tens of kilometres away.

Sinoni Primary School has acted as a refuge for hundreds of residents from Arabal, Kasiela and Sinoni villages for more than one month after the killings of two brothers on February 2.

Mackvin Chepsat, 33, and his younger brother David Chepsat, 29, were shot dead while fleeing from gun-wielding criminals.

After the attacks on Friday, already displaced locals had to flee again from Sinoni Primary School, fearing more attacks from bandits who were still roaming deserted villages.

The school, said Baringo County Commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa, was an examination centre with more than 40 KCPE candidates from Kasiela and Sinoni primary schools.

“Because of the heightened tension following the killings, locals moved from the area. For safety reasons, we also resorted to moving the candidates to a safer area, where they will sit their exams uninterrupted,” said Mr Jaldesa.

The learners will now sit their exams at Mochongoi Secondary School, more than 20km away, where they will be provided with food and boarding facilities for the three days.

Candidates from Chebinyiny Primary School will also be transferred to Nyimbei Secondary School, while those from Kapkechir will go to Karne, Tuiyotich to Kabel and Kapindasum and Arabal to Chemorong’ion primary schools.

In Baringo North, more than 17 candidates from Kapturo will sit the national examination at neighbouring Toboroi Primary School, while 17 others from Kosile who had been moved to Ng’aratuko primary will no longer walk to the centre as earlier arranged but will sit their exams in their own school.

Kosile primary was among examination centres with less than 30 candidates and was supposed to be merged with Ng’aratuko primary in the troubled border region.

Mr Jaldesa said security had been beefed up with the deployment of additional police officers to exam centres.

“We arrived at a decision to relocate the candidates to other areas to ensure that they are safe. Apart from boarding facilities, the government has also provided food and additional security personnel,” he said.

Some teachers have also fled the region, with others raising concerns that bandit attacks had forced schools to shut down and several candidates who had fled with their parents had not been found.

For instance, at Arabal Primary School, which closed a month ago due to communal conflicts, four of the 18 candidates were still missing and officials were still tracking them down.

“When locals fled with their school-age children, the school closed and learners were hosted in other schools where they moved to. When we did rehearsals on Friday, four of our candidates were yet to be traced. We only hope they show up at the exam centres on Monday,” said a teacher, who did not want to be named.

The situation is the same at neighbouring Kasiela Primary in Baringo North where six candidates were still missing. Two other candidates were yet to report to school in Kagir.

At Tugumoi Primary in the Kerio Valley, four candidates who also fled bandit attacks were still missing.

An education official said efforts to track them down were complicated after the school headteacher fled a month ago, fearing retaliatory attacks. He could not be found either.

More than 20 primary and secondary schools in Baringo North and Baringo South have been closed, with others yet to reopen since the beginning of this term.

Mr Richard Chepchomei, a parent from Chemoe, Baringo North, wondered whether the safety of candidates, who are expected to start their national examination on Monday, could be guaranteed amid the spate of attacks.

“The attacks are happening in the areas that are also serving as exam centres. How safe are our children yet the same villages are now deserted, except for the gun-toting criminals? We fear that if the situation is not tamed, some children may not sit the tests,” he said.

He said he was disappointed that despite the presence of security officers in the areas, more killings and livestock theft continue to be reported.

“We have lost more than seven people in Kasiela village alone in a span of one month yet the government keeps saying it is providing security. How safe are we when killings are recorded every day?” said Paul Kipyemat, from Baringo South.

Mr Jaldesa called on locals in the affected areas to remain calm, saying more security officers would be deployed and patrols intensified to smoke out bandits.

“We have formed several units in the volatile border areas and more security officers have been deployed to restore sanity and flush out the armed attackers unleashing terror,” he said.

He added: “We promise to end this menace once and for all.”