Political and community leaders in the Tsunza area of the Kinango sub-county in Kwale County have said the area has been forgotten.
The leaders fear the residents will miss out on the massive benefits that will come with the mega projects that are being implemented in the area including the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone.
According to community leader Steve Ruwa, the education standard in the area has deteriorated and few people make it to the upper echelons of education.
“In the early 1990s, education here was of high standards. We used to be about 30 in class and used to do well getting over 400 marks out of 700.
“But today, the standards have fallen so bad that we have nothing to be proud of. We have 90 students in class and less than 20 get more than 250 marks out of 500,” Ruwa said.
He spoke to the Star on Sunday following a visit to the area on Madaraka Day to observe the celebrations that were held at the Tsunza secondary school.
“Tsunza is nearer Mombasa county than Kinango town in Kwale county. But this area has been forgotten. And because of this, parents are now giving up on education in general,” said Ruwa.
He called on the leaders in the area to have a serious meeting and deliberate on the education matter in Tsunza.
The area has Tsunza Primary, Dzivani Primary and Lutsangani Primary, and Tsunza Secondary as the major schools.
There is also the Ruatech Academy, which is supported by Ruatech Foundation, which has been toping Kinango sub-county in exams.
The Foundation, he said, has been working towards empowering women and youth in the area, in addition to strengthening education.
“We have to make Tsunza great again. We cannot sit and watch the area go down,” said Ruwa.
Parents, he said, are depending on their daughters to get food.
“You find a mother asking her daughter what she has come home with after school. This means the mother depends on her school-going daughter for food,” said Ruwa.
He noted that boys inform teachers they will miss school for a week, only to be seen working on a construction site right next to the school.
“They work to get money so as to feed their families,” Ruwa said.
His sentiments were echoed by Haki Yetu Organization programs officer Julius Wanyama, who said poverty levels in the area are too high.
“There is nothing to show for the 60 years of independence in that area,” said Wanyama on Sunday.
He said the poverty levels push the community to brand the elderly witches so that they can take their lands.
He said there is a real danger of the projects that are being implemented in Tsunza not benefiting the residents.
“There are land issues there because locals sell off their lands to investors who come from outside and take advantage of the poverty levels to buy off their lands cheaply,” said Wanyama.
He called on political leaders in the area to shield the residents from such exploitation.
Kinango deputy county commissioner Charles Akwanalo said most of the land disputes he receives in his office are from Tsunza.
He said residents are fond of selling off their lands and then crying foul later.
“We will not allow you to sell a piece of land you were given by the government in a settlement scheme,” said Akwanalo during the Madaraka Day celebrations at Tsunza secondary school.
He said before they sanction any land sale, one has to show where they will live.
“And if you show us a title deed, we will arrest you because you were given that piece of land by the government because you were supposed to be landless in the first place. That means you lied to the government to acquire that land in the settlement scheme,” said the DCC.
Kinango MCA Richard Itambo said the county government’s focus in the area is education, health and water.
He said there are programs and projects in place that will help raise the education standards in the area.
Nominated MCA Ndegwa Munga said the county assembly lands committee will visit the area and do a land audit.
He said the many land cases must be probed to ascertain whether there is any truth in them.
“Many have sold off their lands and many land parcels have been grabbed,” Munga noted.
He said the mega projects in the area including an upcoming Tsunza Resort City and a dam may be affected by the land disputes.
