Tension is high in Kapkosom village, Baringo South, after armed criminals struck on Monday a few kilometres from an examination centre.
The 10am incident happened near Karne Primary School, a KCPE examination centre with more than 82 candidates from Karne, Koitilil and Kapkechir primary schools who were also displaced by bandit attacks.
Education officials and local administrators had to arrange boarding facilities for the candidates after their families fled the area as the children were sitting their Monday exams.
The attackers, locals said, descended on the border village at 10am and started torching houses, with reports indicating that they had held hostage some residents who were fleeing to safety.
Hundreds of locals were fleeing to the safer Kabel and Koimugul villages with their livestock for fear of more attacks.
The Nation team met exhausted children resting in Kabel village as they pondered their next move after walking several kilometres. They carried clothes and utensils.
At Karne Primary, tense students were writing their English Paper II as gunshots rent the air from a distance.
Adjacent villages, including Karne, Koitilil, Kapkosom and Tuiyotich, were deserted after the incident, with only the candidates remaining.
Teachers at the centre said the attack started a few minutes after the candidates completed their mathematics test, creating panic among the pupils.
Mr Kiptoo Kipruto, a teacher from Kapkechir, said they had to reassure candidates that they were safe.
Standard Eight pupils from Sinoni Primary School in Mochongoi, Baringo County, write their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination English Paper at Mochongoi High School after they were relocated for safety following attacks by bandits from the neighbouring community on March 07, 2022.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
The teachers’ main concern was where the pupils would go in the evening after their parents fled the attack, leaving them behind. It had emerged that there were no boarding arrangements for the learners as earlier indicated by government officials.
“We have 82 candidates from three schools being hosted at the school. They came to school from different areas in the morning and they were expected to go back to their homes in the evening,” Mr Kipruto said.
“Unfortunately, the attack happened while they were in school and their parents fled, leaving them behind, and we have no idea where to find them. We don’t know where they will go after the exam today.”
The school was being guarded by only two security officers, contrary to earlier reports from County Commissioner Abdirizak Jaldesa that such centres had been given extra police officers to beef up security.
“We have liaised with the Ministry of Education to provide boarding facilities with more security officers at the school so that the learners will not have to go back to their homes,” Mr Jaldesa said.
“Plans are underway to deploy police reservists in the area and we are sure we will solve the perennial problem once and for all.”
At neighbouring Mochongoi Secondary, more than 40 other candidates from Kasiela and Sinoni primary schools displaced by banditry are sitting their exams. They were relocated there after attacks on Friday and Saturday that saw four people killed and thousands others displaced.
Candidates from the two schools were expected to sit their KCPE exams at Sinoni Primary, only for bandits to strike, forcing locals to flee the area.
“Though the learners are being provided with only mattresses, we are grateful that they are safe from attacks by the gun-wielding criminals. We are sure they will complete the examination without any hiccups,” said a teacher, who sought anonymity.
The teachers’ main concern was where the pupils would go in the evening after their parents fled the attack, leaving them behind. It had emerged that there were no boarding arrangements for the learners as earlier indicated by government officials.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
Deployed enough security officers
“The learners have also moved more than 20km away from their homes and are not accustomed to the new environment. Some are still in shock after they lost relatives, including parents, a few days to the exams but they have no option but to do the exams,” he added.
While overseeing the distribution of examination materials at a container in Kabarnet, Mr Jaldesa said officials had not faced any challenges regarding logistics and personnel.
"We have deployed enough security officers to the exam centres in the border areas in Baringo North and Baringo South sub-counties with more than 297 candidates,” he said.
With the help of village elders, he said, they tracked down all the learners who had been displaced from their villages by banditry.
"I am elated that all the candidates who were relocated to safer exam centres have been traced and they are being provided with food and boarding facilities until they complete the tests," he said.
Several exam centres in the two sub-counties were moved to safer areas due to insecurity. More than 15 centres were merged to ensure the safety of candidates.
In Baringo North, more than 17 candidates from Kapturo Primary were sitting the examination at neighbouring Toboroi Primary while 17 from Kosile who had been merged with Ng’aratuko Primary will no longer walk to the centre as earlier planned but will do the exams in their own school.
