Isiolo county promises to help build dorm after fire tragedy

The Isiolo county government has promised to help in the reconstruction of the girls dormitory that was razed by fire.

Speaking at the school on Tuesday, the county secretary Dade Boru who led a team dispatched by Governor Abdi Guyo to assess the damage, said the county will work closely with the national government to ensure learning resumes as soon as possible.

During the Saturday evening incident, no casualties were reported among the school's 467 students.

He said despite secondary education not being devolved, the county government is willing to provide relief services to the school, especially to the students most of whom lost all their belongings.

"Our governor has a compassionate heart and is committed to supporting education. That is how he has dispatched this team to conduct an urgent assessment which aims to facilitate the smooth resumption of school operation,” Boru said.

Isiolo Girls' High School head of boarding Dorren Mboroki said 159 students were directly affected, with most of their possessions completely destroyed. 

Special Programmes chief officer Hassan Abdulahi assured that his department would step in to offer assistance once the assessment was completed.

On Sunday, some Isiolo town residents barricaded roads and stoned vehicles to protest over the alleged lack of a working fire engine.

The protesters, according to police, stoned motorists and in the process damaged the Kenya Defence Forces and Kenya Airports Authority engines and two police vehicles.

Fire engines from the KDF and KAA came to the rescue and contained the fire.