Langata Road Primary School playground grabbed
Next term may find pupils of Langata Road Primary School without a playing field after a private developer yesterday erected a stone perimeter wall around land the school head said belonged to the school.
The development caused a confrontation between Peter Mugo, the school’s headmaster, and a section of teachers, parents, and pupils on one hand, and youths allegedly hired by the developer to protect masons working on the plot.
Mr Mugo said that the over 40 masons and the gang of youths descended on the parcel of land separating the public school and Weston Hotel at dawn and keep intruders at bay.
They assaulted NTV journalists and confiscated a camera, but dispersed when a contingent of regular and Administration Police officers arrived at the scene.
“They are encroaching on our school’s play field,” Mr Mugo said, after emerging from an hideout the rowdy youths had pushed his team, and, in a hushed tone, identified the developer only as Airportview Authority.
However, sources who did not want to be identified for fear of victimization told Nairobi News that the plot had been grabbed by a current legislator and a former Nairobi Mayor privy to lack of land ownership documents in the public school.
Mr Mugo, who has led the school since 2006, denied that the school lacked registration documents for the parcel of land that extends 10 meters into the built school area.
But there has been similar attempts to develop the land, with the latest being having felled in 2009, he said.
“We have all the documents confirming that this plot belongs to the school,” said Mr Mugo, and unfolded a 2009 map that showed that the contentious plot was the school’s play field.
Elisheba Khayeri, chairperson of primary school heads in Langata sub-county regretted the incident, and urged those in charge to ensure the conflict is resolved amicably to enable the school get its land back.