The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has urged the government to provide guns and sufficient security training for teachers deployed in volatile regions.
The union justified this move by stating that gunmen in volatile areas in North-Eastern and Coast regions have killed some teachers deployed there.
According to Acting Secretary General Moses Nthurima, teachers in such regions should be armed with guns to give them confidence and scare away attackers.
“In the pockets of insecurity, teachers must be trained and provided with guns. You cannot confront a gun man with chalk. When we take a teacher to insecurity-prone areas, that teacher will constantly live in fear," he said, addressing the media on Thursday.
Nthurima added, "But if the gun is hanging on his back even bandits will know that a teacher is a no-go zone and they will take a second thought before making any mistake."
The body of a high school teacher who was reported to have drowned five months ago was found on Wednesday without the head and limbs.
John Murunga, a teacher at Nalutili Secondary School in Bungoma county, was found in River Kipkaren in Lugari, Kakamega county.
The fierce security operation to weed out criminals on the Baringo-Turkana border has seen hundreds of families have flee as schools and businesses have also closed.
After more than 15 schools where shut down in volatile areas of Kapedo and Tiaty subcounty, Baringo, over 2,000 learners are out of classmany of whom are in makeshift IDP camps. At least 10,000 people have been displaced.
Katuwit, Chepilat, Lemuyek, Chesirimion, Ng’inyang, Chemolingot, Cheptunoiyo, Chemeril, Naudo, Nalegat, Chesirimnyon, Kositei, Komolion and Chepkalacha primary schools have been closed indefinitely.
Kapedo Mixed Secondary, Kapedo and Silale primary schools have also been shut down.
The area has been locked off while Marigat-Chemolingot-Kapedo road is blocked to civilian traffic.
Last week, Senior Teachers Service Commission officer Paul Kosgei was abducted and killed, thereby worsening the situation.
His body and four others were found riddled with bullets and dumped in the Arabal bush, Baringo South subcounty.
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