Students Stranded After Kenya Railways Demolishes School at Night

A bulldozer demolishes a building in Lanet, Nakuru County
A bulldozer demolishes a building in Lanet, Nakuru County.
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Students of a school in Gilgil are stranded after Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) demolished their classes on the night of Friday, February 12.

A video seen by Kenyans.co.ke showed damaged classrooms of Blescohouse Premier School which has 350 learners.

The school was among structures flattened on grounds that they were sitting on Kenya Railways land. Other demolished property included homes and businesses worth millions of shillings.

The students may be forced to seek alternative admission in other learning institutions.

Rubble left behind after demolition of Blescohouse Premier School in Nakuru County
Rubble left behind after demolition of Blescohouse Premier School in Nakuru County
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A teacher from the school told the media that they received a notice from KRC on Thursday afternoon, February 11, informing them that its perimeter wall was on government's land.

The management of the institution put plans in motion to have the wall demolished hoping that the rest of the school would stay intact.

"On Friday, the school hired workers who demolished the perimeter wall. We were shocked to see the excavator bring down the remaining part of the school, which they had earlier said was not on railway land,” stated the tutor.

Police officers were deployed at the scene as the demolitions were carried out even as the victims protested and some produced title deeds.

"I bought land here in 1996, but when they (KRC) came, they had a 1905 map. They claimed that the Railway was older than the plots, and that a road was between the Railway Line and our plots.

"They claimed that the road and the railway belonged to the state. They advised us to take our complaints to the Ministry of Lands," stated one victim.

The victims further decried favouritism claiming that some warehouses that had been on the parcel located in Nakuru County had been spared.

"There is favouritism, on the other house, warehouse buildings have remained intact. It is only the under-privilleged whose houses have been demolished," decried another.

Susan Wambui, an investor on the affected region, revealed that she lost her Ksh4 million investment she made 30 years ago.

"I had invested at least Sh4 million. Seven people had rented and set up shops on my property. When the corporation marked my building for demolition, I confronted them. They claimed they were using a 1915 map for the railway reserve,” she stated.

The demolitions are part of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Kisumu Railway Line.

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A bulldozer demolishes houses in Kisumu County
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