A secondary school teacher at Baragoi Mixed Day Secondary School in Samburu North Sub County has died after being shot by bandits, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Samburu branch has confirmed.
Speaking to Education News yesterday, KUPPET Samburu Executive Secretary William Lengoyiap stated that Joseph Lanyasunya who is a Kiswahili and Christian Religious Education (CRE) teacher was shot by bandits.
“It is sad, to say the least, that Joseph Lanyasunya did not succumb to illness or accident but was shot in cold blood by bandits believed to have come from Baringo County.
When President William Ruto visited Samburu after his swearing-in, the Samburu people became hopeful that insecurity will be a thing of the past,” said Lengoyiap.
He added: “The hope has become a pipedream one year down the line. Around the place where Lanyasunya met his death is a place with a full military presence. There is even a camp, and the areas remained a haven for criminals.”
Lengoyiap noted that as a union, they won’t keep quiet as their members and the people of Samburu are killed in cold blood adding that the people from the region feel cheated and neglected; wondering whether the government is silently telling people to take the law unto their hands.
He appealed to the government to do all it takes to fix the insecurity issues which have become chronic in Samburu County stating that they are tired of the government talking tough instead of acting tough.
“We appeal to the President of the Republic of Kenya not only to deploy the military but just do a serious military operation the Mount Elgon type, without which we will bury everyone here. If you visit most of these homes, there is always a grave and the Story is no different, bullets from the criminals have caused it,” said Lengoyiap.
“We are telling the CS interior to stop concentrating police in cities harassing unarmed civilians but instead bring them to face these armed criminals or just request the president to do the former, full military operation,” he added.
The teacher’s death comes a few days after Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Interior and National Administration Prof. Kithure Kindiki suggested to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to give teachers who are non-locals working in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands like North Rift region flight tickets to avoid attack by a terrorist while travelling to and from their work stations.
Appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee which is chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly on August 2, 2023, where he outlined measures that TSC can follow in protecting teachers in ASAL areas; Prof. Kindiki stated that flight tickets can be issued during opening and closing of schools, a time when teachers travel to and from their work stations.
According to the CS, the al-Shabaab terrorists usually target to attack teachers on the road, when schools are opened and closed, adding that the move to issue flight tickets will enhance the safety of teachers.
“TSC should consider paying flight tickets for the teachers in Mandera County since road transport poses a greater risk. History has shown that teachers are attacked while travelling. The distance from Mandera to Nairobi is around 1,100km long and risky,” said Kindiki.
In July last year, a teacher at Baragoi High School Cyrus Kirukura was waylaid by armed assailants just a few meters from the school’s main gate when he was on his way to the hospital to seek medical attention after he felt unwell.
By Roy Hezron
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