It is one of the most popular schools in Nakuru West constituency.

Characterized by beautiful classrooms, well paved pathways and dozens of teachers walking in and out of the staffroom, one would be forgiven to think the only business here is excelling in education.

However, underneath this modern infrastructure is a shocking revelation of how some of the students are believed to be part of criminal gangs operating within Nakuru County.

Read: Cries of Crime: Why we joined 'confirm' gang

“It came to our attention that students had a hierarchical structure in school, set up according to the gangs they are in. From time to time these students solicit money from other students in exchange for ‘a peaceful stay’ at the school,” a source in the school laments.

So bad is the situation that some students have dropped out of the school since they could not keep up with the bullying, while others sought transfers to other schools.

Our source notes that these incidents mostly go unreported, since students fear retaliation from these criminal groups.

Another source, * Martin noted that peddling of drugs is rampant in the school.

“You would be surprised to learn the illegal items that are sneaked into the school. Kuna mwanafunzi anashonelea rolls za bangi in his school trousers in order to sell them in school. Upon investigation, we learnt that the bhang is acquired from suspected senior gang members who use students to push their products,” he reveals.

We learn that here, teachers are forced to take up the role of being undercover detectives, always on the lookout for any criminal activity.

On the other side of town in Nakuru East constituency, the number of students admitted to Kivumbini Secondary school continues to dwindle each year.

Read: Why form one students shy away from schools in Nakuru slums

A teacher at the school * Moses, says that the surrounding informal settlement and criminal gang activities have made parents shy away from enrolling their children into the school.

“Years back, Kivumbini secondary school used to be three streams. From 2021 it fell back to a two stream and is currently a single stream day school. The student’s population has also reduced over time, from 500 to less than 200,” Moses notes.

An empty form one class room at Kivumbini secondary school during the reporting day on January 16, 2024.

Photo credit: FILE

He adds that insecurity cases within the area are among the factors contributing to their shrinking numbers.

Echoing his sentiments is a parent living in Kaloleni estate, Creespine Musa.

According to Musa, the affiliation of students from most of the schools in Kivumbini ward, to criminal groupings is an open secret.

“I am a guardian of a student in Nakuru central Secondary school. In 2022, we solved a very ugly case where a student believed to be part of a criminal gang beat up another student because one of them had been stepped on during lunch time as they queued to get food,” Musa narrates.

Abdulahi Adan is yet another parent who says crime is affecting education in schools within informal settlements.

Adan believes that the harsh economic times force these students to turn to crime with an aim of providing for themselves. Some students, Adan says, end up dropping out of school all together.

“Also, there is no political good will to ensure that crime does not affect school going children, seeing that politicians are the ones paying these teens to act as goons at a snap of their fingers. It only takes a few thousand shillings to control these young boys and girls,” he states sadly.

Mtaa Wangu reached out to the Nakuru county commissioner Loyford Kibaara to seek his comment on these findings.

Mr Kibaara firmly said criminal gangs in the county have been tamed, consequently having no effect on education at this point.

“We have not recorded any students dropping out of school with a direct link to insecurity and criminal gangs. What we are doing now is civic education, to ensure school going children, are not recruited into gangs,” he concludes.

Wanjirukinuthia20@gmail.com

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