Teachers based in North Eastern Kenya want to be equipped with weapons and taken through paramilitary training similar to that of the National Youth Service and Recce Squad.
According to the teachers who spoke with the media in Isiolo on Wednesday, training teachers on close combat, weapon proficiency, and other tactics would enable them to counter rampant insecurity in the region.
These new demands were raised during the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) annual general meeting in Isiolo.
Gilbert Wafula, KUPPET's chairperson for the Isiolo branch, argued that police had failed to provide ample security despite constant complaints filed by teachers alongside fatal incidents that claimed the lives of their colleagues. Police were also accused of prioritizing their own safety whenever under attack.
"It is true that we have some areas in Isiolo which are prone to insecurity, including Oldonyiro, Merti, Sericho, and Garbatula. We are requesting the government to facilitate teachers by giving them guns to protect themselves in the line of duty.
"We are insisting that the government must provide guns for teachers to enhance their security," Wafula's remarks were corroborated by other KUPPET officials based in Isiolo.
Some officials demanded to be trained by the special forces (Kenya Defence Forces - KDF). However, they did not clarify whether they had presented their petition to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Interior Ministry, or Parliament.
The teachers also did not explain how the training would be factored into their curriculum.
Nonetheless, they argued that allowing teachers to protect themselves would incentivize them to work in the North Eastern regions.
A section of teachers have constantly opposed being posted to work in areas prone to insecurity. In September 2023, hundreds of teachers in North Eastern Kenya demonstrated outside TSC headquarters in Nairobi, demanding to be transferred to other regions.
“All we want is transfer and only transfer. We cannot be under army escort all the time. Even when we are escorted, the armed forces are behind our buses, so we are exposed to danger," one teacher lamented, as others vowed never to return to their duty stations.
In response to the teachers' crisis in the North Eastern region, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki urged TSC to offer non-local teachers short-term contracts while posting them to the areas.
Kindiki, while appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee on August 2, admitted that insecurity in the region had escalated, but his ministry was running an operation to restore normalcy.
