The Parents of Kware Primary and Secondary together with the Board of Management in Embakasi South Constituency in Nairobi have condemned a private developer whose building has stalled school development projects.
Leading a peaceful demonstration to condemn the encroachment, Onemus Musyoka – the Chair of Board of Management for both Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, complained that for the last two years since the school started to support the 100% transition from primary to secondary school students within Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum and its environs, they have had a battle with the private investor who has refused to vacate the land.
“The challenge we have been having as a management and the whole fraternity for the last two years is having the owner of this building vacate the school premises and let the school embark on its development projects that has had money allocated and contractors ready to start the job but it’s not possible because of this building here,” he explained.
In their efforts to have the investor vacate the school premises, the chairperson for Kware Secondary Board of Management – George Amumi – laments that the management has written numerous letters to the whole sub-county protocol to no avail.
“We have really tried the legal way and it’s now 2 years down the line. We have talked to the lady in question, we have talked to the entire administration system in Embakasi South Constituency; the Deputy County Commander, Assistant County Commander, Chiefs, Sub County Police Commander and Officer Controlling the station but at the end of the day we do not know what happens with our plight,” Amumi lamented.
“We told them that this private investor is not superior to the children in this school so we have decided we come here and air our grievances so that the whole country can see what we are going through.”
“The reason this building is within the school premises is because of corruption in the leadership in this constituency. I am not afraid to say that there is corruption in all levels of the leadership in the Sub County,” Eric Ambuche, the founder of Slums Outreach Program added.
“You cannot tell me that we have followed all the protocol channels to communicate this problem and no office within the sub-county is able to take up the matter and serve the people. We have really tried as parents and the community, it’s high time the County and national government gets to hear this through the press.”
In solidarity with community members the school stakeholders gained access to the building threatening to demolish the house if action was not taken with immediate effect.
Jane Kamau a parent with a child at the Primary school and Junior Secondary explained that the tenants in the three-storey building have been interfering with the normal learning of the students by showing indecent behavior.
“There are women in this building that do not have morals at all, recently there is a woman who came out of her house in a very skimpy dress that the secondary students had to report to the teacher on duty but when approached woman rudely made remarks that infuriated the teachers, disposal of indecent garbage has been affecting our little children, imagine little children blowing used condoms as balloons because the tenants are disposing them carelessly,” she demanded.
“We want this building demolished as early as today.”
Francis Juma, a parent at the school, says the stalled projects have had a toll on the normal running of the school where the stipulated space for the construction of the stadium is filled with sewer water that disrupts the playing of children due to health effects.
Juma also decried the interference of the newly constructed road by the building cutting off access to the school gate.
“The contractor of the stadium came to initiate the construction but we were informed that he can’t even get the levels because of the building,” Juma said.
“This same building has cut off the road to the main gate of the Primary school the leaners can’t freely access the gate they have to squeeze themselves between the buildings to get to the gate. We are disgruntled as parents we want our children to have a conducive learning environment let this building get demolished if not we will do it as a community.”
