By Betty Luke
A section of Isiolo MCAs has accused the Municipality leadership of failure to respond swiftly to last Saturday’s fire incident at Isiolo Girls School.
Led by Wabera MCA Salesio Kiambi, the leaders said it was shameful that despite area residents and the school management calling for assistance, the county fire engine did not respond at all.
“The community expects the fire engine to be on standby all the time. If it had responded on time, some items would have been salvaged,” said Mr Kiambi.
Burat’s Nicholas Lorot was saddened that the fire department was unable to address emergency incidents despite funds being allocated towards the emergency kitty.
He said there was need for Municipality Manager Osman Halakhe to come out clean on poor response to fire incidents both at the school and homes.
“It is a big shame that the incident was responded to hours later by other agencies while the county’s fire engine lay idle. The manager should be allowed to utilize funds allocated to his department adequately so that when he fails to deliver we can hold him to account,” he said.
The fire that broke out at half past 7pm on Saturday evening consumed property including essentials for 159 students at the school.
A fire engine from Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) and the Isiolo International Airport could not salvage anything.
The dormitory, according to the school management, had hosted 159 learners majority of whom were in Form One.
While calling on teachers to be close to the learners so that they understand issues of concern to them, Bulapesa MCA David Waithaka said there was need for intensified patrols across all boarding schools to ensure safety of the learners.
Mr Waithaka stressed on the importance of parents having positive discussions with their learners to help them love and embrace their schools.
“With night patrols at the school, it will be easy to detect any weird behavior by the students and solve it before it escalates into a crisis,” he said.
