Schools in Boni Forest yet to reopen two weeks later

Two weeks after schools across Kenya reopened for the third term, over 400 pupils in the terror-prone Boni Forest remain at home, unable to return to class.

The students, spread across four key schools—Milimani, Basuba, Mangai, and Mararani—are stuck in limbo, as their institutions, nestled in the heart of the dense Boni Forest, have yet to open their doors.

Only the Kiangwe Primary School, also in Boni Forest, is in operation, as teachers were able to access the village through water transport.

However, teachers in the other four schools could not report back as the institutions can only be accessed through air or road transport.

Speaking to The Eastleigh Voice, teachers from the affected schools remained firm in their stance, insisting that they will not return to Boni Forest by any means other than air transport, which they deem the only safe option.

"We shall remain in our homes until the time the government will offer a chopper to take us to Boni Forest. We can't endanger our lives by travelling by road. That's similar to committing suicide," said one of the teachers who requested to remain anonymous for fear of getting targeted and intimidated.

Boni Forest teachers enjoying a meal at Mararani village in Boni Forest, Lamu East. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)

Lamu County Commissioner Wesley Koech said it has become difficult for the Lamu security team to access a military chopper to airlift the teachers to Boni Forest.

He urged teachers in Boni Forest to reconsider their reliance on military choppers for transport to their respective schools at the start of each term.

Koech further advised the educators to accept any available means of travel, as long as their security is assured.

The commissioner revealed that in recent times it has become nearly impossible for Lamu security team to access military choppers' to ferry the over 30 teachers to Boni Forest.

The situation was worsened by the April 18, 2024, military helicopter crash at Sindar in Elgeyo-Marakwet County that claimed the life of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Francis Ogolla and nine soldiers accompanying him.

This resulted in all military choppers' that were operating in Lamu's terror-prone Boni Forest being recalled back to Nairobi.

Koech admitted that initiating processes and getting approvals from the state to have a military chopper ferrying teachers to Boni Forest is difficult.

"You know, it's not the role or mandate of the military to ferry teachers to their working stations. They only did that as a way of assisting the education ministry to accomplish its functions in Boni Forest. We want to ensure Boni Forest pupils also access education like their counterparts in other areas of the country," said Koech.

Teachers, education officials and military officers interact before the tutors were airlifted by a military chopper to Boni Forest in May 2024. (Photo: Farhiya Hussein)

He added, "But since we've no military choppers to airlift the teachers to Boni Forest, as the Lamu security committee, we've arranged a boat to ferry them across the vast Indian Ocean to Kiangwe village before getting connected by road to Mangai, Mararani, Basuba and Milimani under security convoys."

However, Lamu Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Executive Secretary Ibrahim Shahibu pushed back, criticising the government for what he called a "selfish" stance. Shahibu urged authorities to stop pressuring teachers to travel by road, fully aware of the dangers it poses.

Shahibu noted that serving in terror-prone Boni Forest is already a sacrifice of its own, bearing in mind the area is prone to Al-Shabaab attacks.

"We won't take it. Teachers are also family people, and their security should be checked. You can't subject them to road transport, and you know the repercussions of doing so. We shall only accept a transport that is fully secure for our teachers and nothing less," said Shahibu.