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Kenyan Police Seek Civilian Help Against al-Shabab

Mohammed Yusuf

   NAIROBI - Kenyan police are calling on residents of the country's
   northeast, along the border with Somalia, to do more to help them
   combat al-Shabab militants. The danger of attacks in the region has
   grown to the point that the agency which recruits Kenyan teachers is
   vowing not to put them in counties along the border.

   The debate on the future of education in northeastern Kenya has entered
   the corridors of parliament, as teachers seek transfers to areas
   outside the region.

   The Teachers Service Commission, an agency tasked with training, hiring
   and placing instructors across the country, said 42 teachers have been
   killed since 2014 at the hands of Somali militant group al-Shabab.

   The head of the commission, Nancy Macharia, defended the withdrawal of
   teachers from the terror-hit areas in the northeast.

   "It's true the children need education. But also the teachers are
   entitled to life. Life is sacrosanct," she said.

   In 2018 five teachers were killed in Wajir and Mandera counties.

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