The head of Musenge Comprehensive School, Eunice Mwende Kamende, speaking to journalists in her office on Tuesday/Musembi NzenguMore than half of the learners at Musenge Comprehensive
School in Mutha ward of Kitui county had by Tuesday not reported back to school
for the new term due to insecurity.
Most of the pupils have fled their homes together with their parents to safe hideouts, fearing for their lives after an attack by camel herders who torched 20 houses.
Speaking to the media in her office, the head of Musenge Comprehensive School Eunice Kamende said out of an enrollment of 242 learners only 102 were in school on Tuesday.
“This is due to insecurity. Most of the parents have fled their homes. Some are not even in the proximity of Musenge. They have gone as far away as Winyunyi,” the headteacher said.
She said the insecurity had caused teachers to stay away from school fearing for their lives and that teachers from outside the area were reluctant to come to school.
The insecurity problem has persisted for a long time, disrupting school programmes and leading to learners performing poorly in national examinations, she said.
Kamende said whenever the bandits who come disguised as camel herders strike, teachers are often forced to spend the night in her office. This she said has been happening since 2017.
She further said incessant attacks by the camel herders cum bandits have left several children orphaned. “I have more than 15 learners whose parents were killed by these people,” she said.
Journalists who were on a fact-finding mission in the Musenge area on Tuesday found residents living in the bush after fleeing their homes and risking attack by wild animals.
A distressed woman, Kamene Thuvi, whom we found living in a makeshift structure in the bush with her children, said she was born and brought up in the Thangilani area of Musenge.
She said the herders have caused untold suffering to her and the rest of the residents. They often drive their camels into my farm,” she said.
She said in the latest raid, the herders drove camels into her farm and all the crops were devoured. She said her four houses were torched, leaving her and her children without any clothes save for the ones they were wearing.
Charles Kyalo Mwanzi, also from Thangilani, said during the recent arson attack, the raiders touched his food store where they not only burned foodstuffs but also clothes belonging to his family members.
He said as his family spent nights in the cold, they had no clothes to change into and even those who go to school did not have school uniforms as they were all burned.
