Editor's Review

Governor Nyong'o had said that the schools should be relocated for effective utilization of the lands where the two institutions sit.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has dismissed plans by Kisumu County Government to relocate Kisumu Boys and Girls High Schools from the City's Central Business District.

This comes after Governor Anyang Nyong'o proposed the relocation of the two schools saying they are sitting on prime city land that could be used to generate massive revenues for the City.

However, Magoha on Saturday allayed the fears that the schools be relocated.

The CS who was on tour in Kisumu said the schools will remain where they are.

He noted that any relocations must follow due process of the law that includes public participation after consultations with his ministry.

"Every Kenyan school is safe as you can imagine where it is. If you want to relocate the school anywhere else, you must ask the people there. Our government is not dictatorial," Magoha said while addressing the press at Kisumu Girls High School.

Nyong'o explained that the current location of the two institutions at the CBD does not align with his plans to make the City a commercial hub.

{Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o. IMAGE: COURTESY}

He noted that the Institutions sit on prime land yet they have no economic value, hence the city is losing a lot of money that could be used to change the economic fortunes of the region.

“Considering the value of the place, that land needs to be useful. We need to construct an integrated urban centre rather than schools,” Nyong'o stated.

The first-term governor now wants the schools relocated from the City so that they can derive economic value from the lands.

“Each school has a field, a swimming pool, and other amenities that have occupied chunks of land. Why don’t we take them to an area where schools share amenities? We don’t need to have a field for each school in a town," he explained.

The relocation of the schools is one of the many recommendations made by Nyong'o in his bid to ensure that land in the city is effectively utilized.

He has been calling for measures that will ensure the land is effectively utilized so that the region can get the economic value that can change the lives of the city.