Uproar over plot to move public schools

Wendani MCA Livingstone Waiganjo at Ndii-Ini Primary School.

Two public schools in one of Ruiru town's most affluent neighbourhoods in Kiambu County are set for relocation to pave way for a private project.

Ndii-ini Primary School, which is among those targeted, has over 2,000 pupils while Uhuru Kenyatta Secondary has 450 students. 

The neighbouring schools sit on land measuring 15 acres, but are being moved to a plot of three acres.

When The Standard visited the area yesterday, security was tight as hawk-eyed security officers kept people away from the two pieces of land at the centre of interest.

Kahawa Sukari MCA Livingstone Waiganjo alleged that a private developer had initiated a move aimed at relocating the schools from its current location to a nearby land which is believed to be riparian land.

“I have information from a member of the BoM that construction going on 500 metres from where we are standing is where the two schools will be relocated to in order to pave way for the private developer,'' he said.

The Standard could not, however, independently verify the MCA's claim.

According to the MCA, Ndii-ini Primary School opened its doors during the colonial era and has been in operation since then.

The secondary school is just over five years old and its construction was largely funded by the Ruiru CDF, according to local residents.

Area residents and parents interviewed yesterday said the schools' catchment area extends to the neighbouring Kahawa Wendani and Mwihoko estates.

Ruiru Member of Parliament Simon King’ara said he was not aware of any relocation plans.

“We have done a computer laboratory at the Uhuru Kenyatta Secondary School with the CDF money and commissioned the same in January. Our pupils should be in school were in not for the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.