Lamu, KENYA: Lamu boys secondary school in Lamu town has finally been re-opened three weeks after it was closed owing to a spate of dorm fire incidents.
Last month, students at the school torched three dormitories in a single week forcing the management to close down the school indefinitely.
However, speaking on Wednesday, Lamu West Education officer Josphat Ngumi said all students have been asked to report to the school as from Wednesday this week.
Ngumi said the decision to re-open the school was arrived at by the school board.
“We convened a meeting this week and decided to reopen the school as from Wednesday. As we speak, form four students have already begun reporting. On Saturday, form one students will be reporting followed by form three students on Monday. Form two students are supposed to report back on Wednesday next week,” said Ngumi.
The school board chairperson Masjid Basheikh said the board had invited the Public Works office who ascertained that the damages caused by all the three fires amounted to Sh.2.5 Million.
He, however, said currently, they were focusing on having the students back to school first after which any other matters shall be communicated to parents later on.
He also revealed that an undisclosed number of students were still in police custody over the burning of the three dormitories.
“The total worth of the property destroyed in the three fires lies at Sh 2.5 million. We, however, have decided that all students report back to the school first. Further communications to the parents will be made later. We still have students in police custody being probed following the fire incidences at Lamu Boys. Their fate will be determined by the outcome after police complete their investigations,” said Basheikh.
Similarly, the school board has rejected calls by a section of parents who wanted witchdoctors and sorcerers brought in to help unearth the identity of students behind the three dormitory fires.
The school board chair Masjid Basheikh termed the proposal outrageous, barbaric and backward.
He has instead asked parents to be patient and await a police report after completion of the ongoing investigations.
“In this age and time, who still thinks about witchdoctors to solve issues? How can anyone expect us to bring such people inside a school for heaven’s sake. Even the religion doesn’t allow us to do that. What will we be turning this school into? A den of sorcery? Lets us leave the investigations to the police, they will surely come up with something,” said Basheikh.
