All Schools Closed Tomorrow- Govt Orders Ahead Of Azimio Protests

UPDATE: The government has extended the order on closure of all day primary and secondary schools to Kisumu County.

The government has ordered the closure of all day primary and secondary schools within Nairobi and Mombasa cities on Wednesday, July 19.

In a joint statement, the Ministry of Interior led by Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki and Education under CS Ezekiel Machogu explained that the move to have all schools shut was a result of receiving security intelligence of criminal elements intending to clash with security agencies around certain schools.

"The Government has received credible security intelligence that criminal elements planning to unleash terror and violence on the public tomorrow intend to engage in armed skirmishes with security agencies around certain schools within Nairobi and Mombasa Cities.

"As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of school children, it has been decided that ALL day Primary and Secondary schools within Nairobi and Mombasa cities SHALL remain closed tomorrow," the statement read in part.

The Ministry of Education shall announce the resumption of learning in the aforesaid schools upon assessment of the security situation in the course of July 19.

The directive notably did not affect schools in other regions, including some that have witnessed violent protests like Kisii.

The Wednesday, July 12 protests saw learners stranded as police clashed with demonstrators in teargas and running battles.

In Kangemi and Nakuru, security forces lobbed teargas in schools, affecting learners who were in classes. The Kangemi incident saw some students hospitalised following the incident whereby teargas from anti-riot police officers landed at the school, leading to several students fainting.

Machogu on January 14 called for more security personnel to be deployed in the learning institutions to avert cases of students being caught up in the ensuing battles.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear if the opposition will be on the streets for all three days (Wednesday, July 19 to Friday, July 21) and the action that the State plans to address the disruption that has the potential of crippling the country's operations to beyond salvation.

The National Police Service (NPS) claimed that the organizers of the purported demonstrations did not seek permits to picket contrary to legal requirements.

"While Article 37 of the Constitution gives the right to assemble, demonstrate, and picket, lessons from recent similar demonstrations clearly indicate that such demonstrations are nothing but a threat to national security.