Sakaja promises to pay fare for students to return home from Nairobi

By Antynet Ford

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has promised to pay fees for all primary and secondary school pupils who arrived in Nairobi for the resumption of schools after the Ministry of Education postponed the reopening of schools.

In an interview on Radio Citizen on Monday morning, April 29, Sakaja said parents who had sent their children to schools in Nairobi should not worry as they would return home safely.

“I will go around the bus stops and pay fare for the students to go back home because they are stranded and probably have no other means. So for all the students who are at bus stations in Nairobi, whether it’s Nyamakima stage, buses going to the Western region, Mount Kenya region and everywhere, I am now sending my team to check and I will also be there.” Sakaja said.

The governor also promised to ensure that they are provided with drinks and snacks when they return home.

His comments came hours after Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced that all schools would reopen on May 6, rather than this week as had been expected.

The move comes as heavy rains continue to wreak havoc across the country, paralysing movement in many parts of the country.

While the majority of Kenyans have questioned the CS’s late communication, which came even as some students were boarding vehicles on their way to schools, the governor said the CS may have received critical information late in the evening, prompting him to issue the statement on the postponement.

“Perhaps he received some information during the night or instructions were given and it is for the better. People should not think that the government takes some decisions to disadvantage them, it is just that there might be some information that he has and we are not aware of it.”