Makueni County Governor Mutula Kilonzo has called for the intervention of the national government following the accelerating rate of school fires in the county, warning that this might compromise the outcome of this year's national examinations.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, September 17, Makueni Governor Mutula said that if ignored, the incidents will also continue threatening the safety and well-being of students during this critical time.
Kilonzo said that security agencies should hold urgent meetings with the boards of management of schools to come up with solid strategies to put an end to school fires. According to the governor, two schools have been burnt in the past week in the county.
"In Makueni and other counties, there has been an increase in school fires, especially in secondary schools, and I was informed that Mbooni Boys High School was burnt and also Kalawa, and this is dangerous, especially because we are in the third term, and if security agencies don't take action, the fires will continue," Kilonzo stated.
"The boards of management should take action as quickly as possible because this thing can spiral out, and I have already said that I do not want to hear of an injured child. I know it is not our jurisdiction, but this is something that we do not want to hear," he added.
Other education stakeholders in the county have also urged school heads and parents to try to engage with students to understand the root cause of the recurrent fires so that swift action can be executed.
"We have a very big problem in our country, and school heads should talk to the children so that we may know what is wrong and prevent parents from paying excessive costs, and parents should also do the same," one stakeholder stated.
The announcement by the governor comes days after an inferno broke out at Mbooni Boys High School, destroying a dormitory.
According to the Kenya Red Cross, in the inferno, which erupted on Friday morning, September 12, there were no student injuries during the incident, but a large number of properties were destroyed.
Following the incident, security agencies were deployed in the school to kickstart investigations and determine the exact cause of the fires.
Last week, the Ministry of Education closed all schools in Gatundu South after a series of fires in the county.
The order came as schools gear up for national exams in October and November.
