Parents in Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga County, have held protests against the planned construction of a police post and chief’s camp within the compound of Upper Sagana Primary School.
The residents who were seen storming the school and chasing the construction workers who had camped there said that they will not allow the continuation of the project unless the county government, led by the Ndia Member of Parliament, George Kariuki, thoroughly briefs them.
According to one board member of the school, the county government had initially claimed that it was establishing an ICT hub, in which the school heads thought it would be beneficial to students; however, it turned out that it was a police post and a chief's camp being constructed.
"We had initially accepted the project because we were told it was an ICT centre and we knew that our students were going to benefit, but we are now hearing that these are other offices, and we cannot allow that because this will bring problems to our children," the board member said.
According to some of the parents, the establishment of a police post in a school compound is not psychologically healthy for the students.
The parents claimed that the county government should be more focused on enhancing and rehabilitating the infrastructural capacity of schools, by establishing more classes and laboratories in addition to fixing leaking roofs.
"They are creating a police station, but now our children will be seeing everything bad that happens in these stations, and we do not want that, because people who are brought there have done something, we don't want them to be distracted in their studies," one parent said.
On his part, the area MP claimed that the police post was meant to protect an ICT center that was recurrently vandalised.
The incident mirrors an earlier one this year in January, where parents stormed Gatoto Primary School in Mukuru kwa Reuben, Nairobi, protesting alleged land grabbing by local leaders.
The irate parents stormed the school, claiming that several individuals had a plot to alter the ownership of the land which was associated with the school.
Learners were sent home as the situation became too risky for their safety. The police, who were deployed in the schools after the situation escalated, clashed with the parents, chasing them outside the school gates.
“We do not want politics; we want the school to continue. The school belongs to the government,” one parent said.
