School loses seven tutors in Saturday's Mandera massacre

A school in the border town of Mandera bore the biggest brunt of Saturday's massacre, losing almost half of the entire teaching staff.

Dawa Integrated Primary School, the only special school in the county, lost seven of its teachers at the hands of Al-Shabaab militants.

Mandera Township Ward Representative Feysal Abdinoor said the loss would greatly affect service delivery in the county, especially the education sector.

"Mandera County has suffered greatly and will feel the pinch as those who lost their lives in the unfortunate attack were the backbone of service delivery in most schools, health facilities and the disciplined forces," Mr Abdinoor said.

"We have so far lost seven teachers from the same primary school, two health officials and four security officers. These people were dedicated Kenyans who offered their services in different capacities to the people of Mandera. Mandera residents and those from the entire North-Eastern region are with their family at this trying time," he added.

The killings are a huge blow to the education sector considering the area has been grappling with a massive shortage of teachers.

Residents have largely avoided the teaching and medical professions and the entire region has relied largely on Kenyans from other regions to offer the vital services.

Abdinoor said the attackers were bent on destabilising the country by sparking inter-faith mistrust.

"We have lived together for many years and remain united as Kenyans. Let these criminals not have an excuse to divide peace-loving Kenyans along ethnic or religious lines so they can achieve their ill motives," he cautioned.