DCC Vows Stringent Measures To Counter Schools Unrest.

The government has promised a sweeping proactive response measures towards the prevention of schools from indulging in any form of arson attacks by the students.

The Thika West Deputy County Commissioner Tom Anjere has said that his office had set out stringent proposals to monitor potential threats more closely and wading deeper into an emerging debate over the involvement of the members of the society in this whole saga.

While addressing the managers of Petrol Stations in Thika Town, Anjere announced that they had agreed on several exceptional measures, including plans to ensure no minor was allowed to buy petrol as well as monitoring and keeping reliable data of all the people who purchased fuel in containers in order to prevent any eventuality of the fuel getting into wrong hands.

“We have agreed with the petrol station managers on a number of precaution measures that we need to ensure that fuel bought from their stations is not used for any other purpose other than running motor vehicles and engines. In line with this, we have asked them to ensure that their clients are well vetted to avoid the petrol getting into the wrong hands,” said Anjere.

  

He said that all those who claimed to have machines at home or farms should bear some written authority from their area chief or assistant chief verifying their businesses. The managers were also asked to maintain a record of all the clients who came to buy fuel in jerry cans from their stations.

“They should produce an ID card, reveal their telephone numbers and other personal details necessary for identification. We are insisting that an image of that client should be taken for recording purposes. Other than that, the responsibility of selling fuel in jerry can should be solely left the supervisors on duty, not any other attendant,” he stressed.

He added that they were planning to meet all the bodaboda riders in the area for it had come to his notice that majority of these crimes relied on them for execution. He said that his office was in the process of laying out certain conditions that were necessary in regulating their operations.

“We are in the process of registering all those who operate bodabodas within this region. The list of all the genuine ones will be circulated to all the administrators and police stations in the district,” he said.

Thika Deputy County Director of Education John Ndundu called on the management of these stations to cooperate with the authorities for even though the area had no case of arson, it was prudent that everyone played their part to prevent it from happening.

Acting DCIO Micah Chepkwony warned anyone caught assisting students in their quest to torch schools that stringent steps would be taken against them as they were equally guilty of the offence.

He added that they would conduct an audit of all petrol outlets to ensure that they weeded out all the illegal ones.

Later in the afternoon, this team of security officers made an impromptu visit to Chania Girls High School to ascertain the facts on the ground. They were able to have a very constructive session with the staff (both teaching and non-teaching) and the students where they deliberated on diverse issues of security and crime prevention measures.

The DCC told them that the aim of this gathering was to ensure that everyone was brought on board in the fight and prevention of illegal activities both within and without the school’s environs. He urged everyone to be very vigilant and asked teachers to be on the look out to identify early signs of security threats and radicalisation among the students.

He appealed to the staff to practice what they preached to the students, not forgetting to remind the students of the dire consequences of these strikes to their future.

The wave of school strikes and arson has not only become a concern to the government, but the general populace too.

Also present in the DCC’s delegation was the Thika Deputy OCPD, Thika West Deputy DAPC Ashford Ndegwa and the head of Intelligence Terrah Avunya.