Thursday afternoon, a few minutes after 2pm and learners donning uniforms from different schools are hurriedly walking back to their classrooms in one school after lunch.
This is Kapindasum Primary — a border school in insecurity-prone Baringo South. Neatly-arranged stones, clean pavements, and clear signage welcome us, showing us directions to offices, classrooms, and other amenities.
Many learners at this school had previously fled to other areas with their families due to insecurity. It is the reason they have been allowed to don uniforms from their old schools.
Nation.Africa toured the institution last Thursday and noted the transformation happening slowly, compared to a few months ago when the place was desolate.
Elijah Kipton, the headteacher of Kapindasum Primary School in Baringo South Constituency, Baringo County at his office in a makeshift structure on May 11, 2023.
Holes on window panes, water tanks, and roofs in some of the classrooms and girls’ dormitories are a sad reminder of the impact of the bullets that were fired into the institution by armed criminals who invaded in broad daylight in the past.
In 2012, bandits suspected to be from Tiaty invaded the school and shot indiscriminately, killing three pupils and injuring others.
Mass exodus
It marked the beginning of a mass exodus from the area as residents fled to safer villages such as Embosos, Mochongoi, and Kabel. The school was closed until 2017 when it partially reopened, and would then close on and off.
A visit last year established a deserted school with overgrown shrubs after learners and their parents fled the area in 2019.
Before schools reopened, 200 National Police Reservists were hosted at the institution for two weeks while undergoing paramilitary training to pave the way for their deployment to the border villages in Baringo North and Baringo South sub-counties to supplement security officers in the affected areas.
They are credited for the new look of the school.
Kapindasum is among 20 schools in six counties in the restive North Rift region that were earmarked by the State for reconstruction after they were vandalised by armed bandits.
Kapindasum Primary School headteacher Elijah Kipton shows Nation.Africa a window with bullet holes on May 11, 2023. It is among schools that were vandalized by bandits between 2017 and 2019 in the banditry hit North Rift region and earmarked for reconstruction by the military.
The government has revealed that Sh100 million has been set aside for this work to be carried out by the military, also deployed to supplement police in restoring sanity in the region.
The school was reopened on January 23, following a directive by President William Ruto that learning resume in all institutions that had been closed in the volatile villages.
Others are Arabal, Kasiela, and Sinoni in Baringo South, and Chepkesin and Kapturo primary schools in Baringo North.
Kapindasum, Ruggus, Kasiela, Arabal, Sinoni, Ng’elecha, and Ramacha primary schools are some of the schools mapped out for reconstruction in Baringo County.
Partial reopening
For safety purposes, the institution opened its doors only to learners from Grade Six, junior secondary school, and Standard Eight. The feeling was that in case of an attack, it is easier to control and secure them than the lower classes.
All learners are boarding in the school. To guarantee their safety, eight police officers have been deployed to live in the school compound. To supplement them, a General Service Unit (GSU) camp also mans the school at night with an armoured personnel carrier vehicle.
Bunkers have been reinforced within the school compound to help with the safety of learners during attacks.
KDF inspection
The reconstruction, however, has not yet started. But KDF has already inspected the school to determine what needs to be done.
A lesson going on, with and mattresses inside a classroom at Kapindasum Primary School in Baringo South Constituency, Baringo County on May 11, 2023. The rooms serve as classrooms during the day and boys dormitories at night.
Contacted for comment on the progress of the project, Baringo County Commissioner Stephen Kutwa said he was not authorised to comment on anything concerning the operation and referred the media to Regional Coordinator Abdi Hassan, whom we were not able to reach on the phone.
However, a senior military officer in the region who sought anonymity, because he is not authorised to speak to the media, revealed that KDF had already toured all the schools targeted to be reconstructed and will roll out the projects once they complete opening up security roads within the villages.
“We are doing the reconstruction in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and so far we have toured all the schools targeted and we know what needs to be done. Some of the schools will also be turned into nomadic boarding schools to boost school enrolment and retention in the border villages. So far we have started by opening up the roads,” said the officer.
Kapindasum primary school headteacher Elijah Kiptoon confirmed that KDF engineers, led by Major Joseph Wire, visited the school on April 20 for the inspection.
Trail of damage
While the transformation so far is significant, even before the military uplift, pupils and teachers are still grappling with several challenges due to limited infrastructure. Most facilities and learning equipment were vandalised by bandits.
They include desks and solar panels. Dozens of beds in the girls’ dormitory were stolen and some classrooms and certificates were destroyed.
Kapindasum Primary School headteacher Mr Elijah Kipton shows Nation.Africa the girls’ dormitory on May 11, 2023. The boarding school in Baringo South is among those that were vandalized by bandits between 2017 and 2019 and earmarked for reconstruction by the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) on a Sh100million government budget.
Because of this, 112 girls sleep on the floor, exposing them to snake bites.
To cope with the congestion, a makeshift timber structure has been improvised adjacent to the dormitory to serve as a changing room.
The dormitory was supposed to host only 60 girls.
Boys also lack a dormitory. It has forced the 148 learners to convert their classrooms into sleeping quarters.
Dormitory at night, classroom in the day
The arrangement is such that the pupils’ metal boxes, personal belongings, and mattresses are kept outside during the day as learning happens and returned at night after the evening preps.
“The classrooms are used for learning during the day and serve as dormitories for the 148 boys at night. We keep the pupils’ personal effects outside the classes during the day because of the congestion. The girls are not comfortable either because they also sleep on the floors,” Mr Kiptoon explained.
The school is in the middle of the bush, and snakes move around freely. Recently, after the evening classes, the girls spotted a huge snake curled on the mattresses heaped on the floor. They managed to kill it.
Teacher share iron structures
Teachers have been forced to utilise two iron-sheet structures within the school compound to serve as their houses. More than five share a room, and sleep on bare floors.
The administration block, though neatly labeled, is a makeshift open structure roofed with iron sheets.
“For safety, all our teachers have learned how to get to safety when bandits strike. It is also a necessity to learn the basics of using a firearm here,” said the headteacher.
In March this year, bandits who were roaming the nearby bush shot at learners during morning preps, before fleeing. Luckily, no one was injured.
In 2017, when the institution was reopened, a GSU camp was set up about a kilometre away and more than 10 security officers were deployed to man the institution around the clock.
In February of the same year, armed criminals attacked close to the school, killing a teacher. In the vicinity, structures that were once a trading centre, a dispensary, and houses are completely vandalised. The remaining few buildings, including what used to be a cattle dip and a chief’s office are overgrown with shrubs.
Police escort
“This is an area where we rely on security officers in virtually everything, including taking children to fetch water in the river. Our operations are only done inside the school compound and you cannot choose to walk alone due to insecurity,” said Mr Kiptoon.
“We are elated that the government plans to reconstruct the school and build more facilities including classrooms, toilets and administration block, and the teachers’ quarters,” said the school head.
Four boys’ toilets at the school sunk months ago.
A policeman watches over pupils of Kapindasum Primary School in Baringo South Constituency, Baringo County as they fetch water at river about half a kilometer away, on May 11, 2023. It is one of the schools that were vandalized by bandits between 2017 and 2019 in the banditry hit North Rift region. The military is expected to reconstruct the schools in a grand government plan, and Sh100million has been set aside for the work.
Arabal, Ng’elecha
It is the same scenario at the neighbouring Arabal Primary School, where more than 14 solar panels and the entire charging system were stolen by the armed criminals.
Some classrooms and the school library were also destroyed after armed criminals turned them into cow sheds for their livestock after villagers fled the area last March.
Ng’elecha primary school has also suffered the same fate after all structures were flattened by bandits, who turned the classrooms into cowsheds for years.
Since 2012, villages adjacent to the school have remained deserted. BY DAILY NATION