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{
    "id": 935144,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/935144/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 164,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Turkana CWR, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Joyce Emanikor",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1092,
        "legal_name": "Joyce Akai Emanikor",
        "slug": "joyce-akai-emanikor"
    },
    "content": "Just to randomly name but a few of the incidents in Kenya, on 2nd April 2015, gunmen stormed Garissa University College killing 148 people and injuring 100. The 1998 Bombolulu fire tragedy that left 26 girls dead in Kwale County is still vivid in our minds 20 years down the line. In 2001, fire killed at least 59 male teenagers in Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos and injured scores of them. In 2010, two boys were burnt to death in their dormitory in Endarasha Boys Secondary School in Nyeri County. In August 2012, eight pupils of Asumbi Boarding Primary School, Homa Bay County, died after a fire razed down their dormitory, not to mention the recent episodes that have shocked Kenyans. One occurred on 15th October 2017 when an attacker from South Sudan led four armed men to Lokichoggio Secondary School in Turkana County, shot dead a guard and five students and sprayed bullets on students. That injured over 18 people. The villain was a student in the same school, bringing to the fore the quest to vet foreign students in high schools and tertiary institutions. The security at the school was beefed up after His Excellency the President intervened. This special intervention does not happen all the time hence the need for serious preparedness. On 22nd September 2019, about a month ago, Kenya woke up to the sad news of Precious Talent Academy in Dagoretti where we lost seven pupils aged between 8 and 15 years. It is when the school building where they were studying collapsed on them. This was a preventable disaster claiming lives of hopeful young souls. We are told that the structure was a product of poor workmanship and engineering. In this age and era, in the Capital City of Kenya, what a shame! It is time the Ministry of Education liaised with the State Department of Public Works and the National Construction Authority (NCA) to assess structures in schools and determine their compliance to the required standards for the safety of our children. They must enforce adherence to Government guidelines on infrastructural development. On this note, I congratulate CS Magoha for the steps he has taken. In some unfortunate situations, what exacerbates the problem is the inability by both the staff and students to sense danger, to identify problems – dormitories being locked from outside, lack of exits, lack of fire extinguishers, narrow or single doors, inhalation of carbon monoxide and, in some cases, it is lack of rapid response and emergency services from responsible authorities. It is evident that most schools across the country have no capacity to handle emergencies. They are yet to fully implement the safety standards manual produced by the Ministry of Education 11 years ago, in 2008. Our institutions of learning are ill-equipped to deal with disasters. A survey conducted by the Kenya Parents Association (KPA) in 2012 indicates that 9 out of 10 schools are not prepared to handle disasters. Schools do not respond quickly thus leading to deaths, injuries and destruction of properties. Even the latest guidelines released by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in 2017 on protection of children only warn against corporal punishment, sexual abuse and bullying from internal aggressors. We must, as a country, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}