Exam candidates hit hardest as attacks keep Baringo schools closed

Jepchirchir (not her real name), a Standard Eight candidate at Kapkechir Primary School in volatile Baringo South, had to relocate in December last year with her parents to the safer Mochongoi village, more than 10km away.

The family fled after armed criminals attacked and drove away hundreds of livestock towards the Ng’elecha Hills on the border with Tiaty.

She has not stepped in her school since.

Hundreds of armed criminals had ambushed herders in the grazing fields and fired gun shots to scare them away before stealing the animals belonging to residents of Lamaiywe and Korkoron villages.

Following the attack, hundreds of locals fled to neighbouring Kabel and Mochongoi for safety.

Learners in the affected area, including Lamaiywe, Kapkechir, Karne, Tuiyotich and Tuiyotich, were interrupted for about two weeks, to allow normality to return.

Read: The high cost of violence in Kenya’s bandit valley

On January 16, just when locals had started to return to their homes, armed bandits who had moved into the area with hundreds of livestock ostensibly to look for water and pasture invaded the same village and torched several houses, before killing a livestock trader, whose body they set ablaze.

Mass exodus

The incident sparked another mass exodus in seven villages including Lamaiywe, Kapkechir, Korkoron, Kaptarakwa, Kapkwang’ayan, Elbor and Tuiyotich, with parents migrating with school-going children for fear of their lives.

Jepchirchir, who was trying to compensate for the lost time in school, was in transit again, this time to Keneroi, where her family had moved, taking refuge in another school.

She is among 34 Standard Eight candidates at Kapkechir Primary School who are expected to sit their KCPE examination but again, with the myriad of challenges, she is competing with them if she is to secure admission to Form One.

Read: Insecurity hits reopening of Rift Valley schools

She is uncertain where she will sit her exams in March because the family’s houses were razed by the criminals and the villages are now battlefields, including her school.

Some of the learners have moved to Kabel, Keneroi, Ng’arie and Mochongoi primary schools, more than five to 10km away, while others are being hosted at the homes of Good Samaritans, still pondering their next move.

Despite peace meetings to quell the heightening tension and return normality in the affected area, more attacks have been reported, with the latest incident happening on Saturday.

Two people, Patrick Kimaiyo and James Ng’etich, suffered gunshot wounds when they were attacked by the same criminals roaming the villages freely.

The duo are recuperating at Baringo County Referral Hospital in Kabarnet.

Jepchirchir’s woes capture the suffering of more than 2,000 candidates in the banditry-prone Baringo South and Baringo North owing to the incessant attacks and archaic practice of livestock theft that have displaced at least 6,000 people from their homes.

The affected schools in Baringo South include Kapkechir, Lamaiywe, Tuiyotich and Tuiyotich secondary schools. Hundreds of students are still at home even after schools reopened a month ago, waiting for their fate, as their villages are insecure.

Read: Children drop out of school as parents flee bandit attacks

Learners at Chepkesin Primary School on the border with Baringo North have suffered the same way for close to two decades, with the school opening and then closing when attacks happen.

Chepkesin Primary, once a boarding school, has been a no-go zone since last year, after being turned into a hideout for armed criminals who terrorise locals and kill at will.

In a recent incident in the area, a police officer was shot dead in Chepkesin village by armed criminals suspected to be from Tiaty sub-county who had invaded the area with their livestock.

Police officers from Bartabwa station and the Rapid Deployment Unit at Kagir had been deployed to flush out the criminals. While on patrol, they came face to face with the herders. One officer was shot in a fierce exchange of fire that lasted hours.

Two people have been killed in the area in one month, with more than 3,000 displaced from their homes.

After a bandit raid in the middle of last year, locals fled to Barbarchun and Bratabwa villages, while some learners were hosted at Kesumet Primary School. Another attack happened in the area where they had sought refuge, paralysing learning completely.

Richard Chepchmei, a parent from the area, regretted that due to the spate of attacks and displacement of families, Chepkesin Primary School did not register candidates for this year’s national exams, after parents moved to different villages, making it hard to track them down.

“As we speak, Chekesin has no Standard Eight candidates because of the incessant attacks and we are worried that many of the learners dropped out of school,” he said.

Chepkesin, Kamwetio, Kesumet and Chepkew primary schools remain deserted, with locals vowing not to return to the area until their security is guaranteed.

Simion Chebor claimed that the deserted schools have become a good hideout for armed criminals, raising concerns about the safety of children.

“We have vowed that we are not going to risk the lives of our children by allowing them to learn in the area, until the government guarantees them their security. If locals have fled the areas, how will the pupils go to school?” He said.

In an attack last year, bandits vandalised classes and torched books before carting away the school’s solar panels.

“It is sad that the same candidates in such volatile areas are expected to compete with others countrywide, yet they have not stepped in class for close to two terms. These children are very disadvantaged to say the least,” added the distraught parent.

On Sunday, local leaders held inter-denominational prayers at Lamaiwe in a bid to preach peaceful coexistence and bring calm in the troubled areas.

Labour CS Simon Chelugui regretted that rampant bandit attacks had affected learning in the area, with thousands of learners out of school and the most affected being candidates.

“Perennial insecurity has reversed the (gains) we have achieved in the education sector, with thousands of learners dropping out of schools due to interruption. It is time the issue is sorted once and for all,” said Mr Chelugui, who promised to reach out to his Interior counterpart, Dr Fred Matiang’i.

Governor Stanley Kiptis insisted that police reservists should be deployed in the conflict areas as a solution to the perennial attacks, and security officers guard the affected schools round the clock.

“We are appealing to the government to put in place proper measures in the affected schools to ensure learning resumes. It is worrying that more than 24 schools have been shut down owing to the spate of attacks. The candidates are suffering the most,” said Mr Kiptis.

His sentiments were echoed by MPs William Cheptumo (Baringo North), Charles Kamuren (Baringo South) and Woman Representative Gladwell Cheruiyot.

Perennial insecurity has dealt a major blow to learning in the banditry-prone areas in Baringo County, with several schools yet to reopen after they were closed in 2005.

The schools were closed due to incessant attacks and after parents and their children deserted the volatile areas and moved to safer areas.

Some schools need to be refurbished after they were vandalised by armed bandits, who also killed dozens of people including pupils and teachers.

Some of the primary schools that have been shut for years and are yet to reopen in Baringo North, Baringo South and Tiaty sub-counties are Ramacha, Ruggus, Kamwetio, Chepkew, Loromoru, Barsuswo, Tandar, Katilomwo, Karkaron, Ng’elecha, Chepkesin and Chesitet.

Other schools close when inter-community fighting erupts and reopen when normality returns.

These include Kapindasum Primary, Kasiela, Sinoni, Arabal, Chemorong’ion, Mukutani, Noosukro, Yatya, Chemoe, Kesumet, Kagir, Loruk, Kosile, Barketiew, and Kapturo.

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