The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has called on the government to return the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) helicopters which used to airlift teachers to and from the insecure Boni Forest in Lamu County.
Speaking in Lamu during the branch’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) last weekend, the union first National Vice Chairman Malel Lang’at stated that the recent withdrawal of the helicopters will greatly affect the education standards in the region.
“With the withdrawal of KDF choppers in the recent past, what is the fate of the schools that have been closed and where will the learners and their teachers operate from as a result? It is unfortunate that the government has failed to find a lasting solution to the menace since independence, leaving locals living on the edge. Give teachers the KDF choppers,” said Malel.
He condemned the recent utterances by Lamu East MP Ruweida Obo that the country’s teacher employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should interdict those teachers who haven’t reported to different schools in Boni Forest, stating that such utterances are uncalled for and the legislator should think of a lasting solution instead of threatening teachers.
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According to Malel, the legislators like the area MP should be thinking of passing a law in the National Assembly that will allow teachers in insecurity prone areas like the Boni Forest, Lamu East, bandit-prone areas of Rift Valley, and North Eastern, among others, to own guns.
“Lawmakers like Lamu East MP Hon. Ruweida Obo, with all due respect, should be thinking of passing a Bill in parliament allowing teachers to carry guns in schools instead of threatening our teachers in Boni Forest. We are going to push for teachers to be armed in response to the numerous killings of teachers teaching in the bandit and insecurity prone areas in the recent past,” he said.
Malel observed that about half of all states in the United States of America (USA) have allowed teachers to carry firearms, and it is high time the government changed tact in dealing with insecurity in those areas.
At the same time, he called on TSC to promote those teachers in Boni Forest as a way of motivating them, a statement that was echoed by KNUT Lamu branch Executive Secretary Ibrahim Sheekue, who stated that many teachers in Lamu have stagnated in one job grade for many years.
Sheekue, who is also a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) representing Coast region, noted that the schools in Boni were closed due to insecurity and are currently used as military camps, adding that despite the government and the TSC opening schools, no teacher was willing to go back and that the promises of being airlifted to and from the region have never been fulfilled.
“The government and the teacher employer wanted to open the schools to show the public and the international community that the place is safe and secured. No teacher was ready to go back, but the government and the TSC gave false promises that they will be promoted to administrative positions once they accept to be posted to these schools,” said Sheekue.
By Roy Hezron
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