Kisumu governor Prof Anyang Nyong'o on Wednesday, May 4, defended his plans to relocate two national schools - Kisumu Boys and Kisumu Girls, from the Central Business District (CBD).
Speaking during a briefing on the 9th Edition of the Africities Summit, Nyong'o explained that the current location of the two institutions did not align with the plan to make the lakeside city a commercial hub
The governor added that the two institutions sit on prime land within the lake city's CBD without bringing economic value thus straying away from his plan to make Kisumu a profit-making entity.
“Considering the value of the place, that land needs to be useful. We need to construct an integrated urban centre rather than schools,” Nyong'o explained.
He further proposed that the schools, alongside other establishments, be relocated to the outskirts of the city. In addition, the county boss opined that the schools should share facilities to avoid extravagant use of government land.
“Each school has a field, a swimming pool and other amenities that have occupied chunks of land. Why don’t we take them to an area where schools share amenities? We don’t need to have a field for each school in a town," he explained.
The Manyatta Arabs School, Kisumu County Referral Hospital, Jua Kali market and city's main bus terminus located opposite Kisumu Boys will also be moved.
Nyong'o, who is a first-time governor, has been advocating for maximum utilization of land lying within the county. He spearheaded the construction of a stadium and convention centre at the Kisumu Agricultural showground.
Kisumu Boys and Girls High schools are located within the Kisumu Central Business, opposite the main bus terminal. While the two share a fence, the main entrances are a kilometre apart and are on different roads.
The looming relocation of the schools has been previously met with resistance from locals and alumni. Kisumu Boys alumni association led by James Mwamu moved to court in February 2021 to block the plan claiming that they had not been consulted.
Kisumu Boys boasts of rich 100-year history dating back to the 1920s. Initially a primary school for the predominant Indian community who were railway construction workers, it was elevated to Indian High School- a mixed school.
However in 1961, a separate school for girls was constructed, paving way for the Kisumu Girls Secondary School. The latter was upgraded to national status in 2012.
“ASK grounds sit on 100 acres but had a show of two weeks in a year and remained idle for the rest of the year. Now an investor has built an ultramodern convention centre and the other one has expressed interest in constructing a hotel around the stadium,” the governor explained.
Kisumu is set to host the Africites Summit between May 17 to 21. Convened by the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa’s (UCLG-A), it brings together the leadership of cities and sub-national governments and their associations for the advancement of decentralization and local governance aimed at improving the living standards of the citizens.
On April 29, Nyong'o's daughter, Lupita, was appointed the goodwill ambassador for the event. Its organizers explained that the actress was up to the task owing to her remarkable career in the film industry.
