A primary and secondary schools in Meru County risk closure as the Kenya Defence Forces and residents of Ngaremara village fight over land.
The KDF has threatened to evict residents from the 7,600 hactares and now students of Kisima Primary and Kisima Day Secondary schools are staring at an uncertain future.
The soldiers have started demolishing some buildings, saying the land meant for military training was allocated to villagers during President Daniel Moi’s era.
But the residents recently held demonstrations, saying they have lived in the area since 1980s and cannot be evicted now.
Kisima Primary management committee member Agostino Loreng said the students might drop out of school because they have nowhere else to go.
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The two are the only schools on the border of Meru and Isiolo counties in Tigania East Constituency.
NO ONE EVITED
“About 425 children risk dropping out of school while another 750 needy children may lose their education sponsorship if the KDF grabs our land. I urge all leaders to intervene and ensure we are not evicted from our land and school,” Loreng said.
But KDF spokesman David Obonyo said the community should refrain from encroaching the military land. He, however, denied that the military has evicted anyone from the land.
“We would like to clarify that KDF has not evicted anyone from the land nor has it destroyed anyone’s property. KDF is a professional force with utmost respect for rule of law and cannot destroy the property of the same Kenyans that it was established to protect,” said Col Obonyo in a statement.
“However, KDF advises the locals to respect the existing demarcations and refrain from encroaching on military lands.”
Muthara MCA Kinyua Nturibi said they they would not allow the military to extend its territory without the consent of the Meru County government and urged the residents to stay put.
He said the only evidence the KDF is producing in order to acquire the land is a disputed map, which he says is not valid.
