[stop-imf] NYT: Primary schools in Kenya, Fees Abolished, Are Filled to Overflowing

[Robert Weissman]

New York Times
January 7, 2003
Primary Schools in Kenya, Fees Abolished, Are Filled to Overflowing
By MARC LACEY


NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 6 =97 The government of the new president, Mwai Kibaki=
,
began revamping Kenya's policies today, starting with public education and
human rights, as it sought to rebuild a country that was fraying under the
long rule of Daniel arap Moi.

One promise more than any other brought applause from Kenyans during the
presidential campaign. When Mr. Kibaki, who won the Dec. 27 election in a
landslide, said he would eliminate the fees primary school students were
required to pay to attend class, crowd after crowd would roar with glee.

Mr. Kibaki fulfilled his promise today when students returning from the
holidays to the country's 17,000 primary schools found that the fees
were no
more. But students also found overflowing classrooms in some parts of the
country as many parents who could not afford to send their children to clas=
s
under the old policy took advantage of the new rules. Enrollment in public
school stood at about 85 percent in Mr. Moi's final year, down from 95 perc=
ent
in 1990.

In Kibera, a vast slum in Nairobi that is one of Africa's largest unplanned
settlements, angry parents threatened to set the principal's office on
fire at
one school today after officials announced that classes were overflowing an=
d
that no more children would be allowed to enroll.

"The government declaration that primary education is free and
compulsory does
not help us when it has not made preparations for its implementation," Andr=
ew
Otieno Oyawo, 36, who was trying to enroll his son in first grade at the
school, Olympic Primary School, told The Associated Press.

To calm the crowd, authorities agreed to take down the names of those
who were
left out and to help them enroll next year.

During the campaign, as Mr. Kibaki won points with voters for his
free-education pledge, his main rival, Uhuru Kenyatta, said it was a pipe
dream to offer free school. Mr. Kenyatta, the candidate of the Kenya Africa=
n
National Union party, was the preferred successor of Mr. Moi.

But Mr. Kibaki said the old government was so corrupt and inefficient
that by
simply running Kenya honestly the new government could find the
estimated $65
million needed for free primary education. In the Moi years, parents were
charged fees ranging anywhere from $12 to $192 a year per child,
depending on
the family income.

Mr. Moi handed over power to Mr. Kibaki on Dec. 30, and the new president's
cabinet choices were sworn in today.

Some of the key appointments were Michael Wamalwa, a former opposition
politician, for vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka for foreign minister, David
Mwiraria for finance minister, Raila Odinga for minister of roads, public
works and housing, and George Saitoti as minister of education, science and
technology. Mr. Kibaki has said that as a start he will have his ministers
declare their wealth.

Mr. Kibaki found his selections criticized in some quarters. The Liberal
Democratic Party, which joined Mr. Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition befo=
re
the election, said Mr. Kibaki had not appointed enough of its members in to=
p
slots.

Mr. Saitoti was Mr. Moi's vice president until several months ago, when he
opted to join the opposition. He said over the weekend that parents
would have
to pay for school uniforms, but that the government would handle other
expenses, including textbooks. He warned that school officials would face
unspecified sanctions if they turned students away.

But that is what happened on the first day of the policy today.

"I would rather see my child study under a tree right here and receive qual=
ity
education than have him at home waiting for admission next year," said Geor=
ge
Onyango Koliech, 42, who earns the equivalent of 60 cents a day as a peddle=
r.

Derrick Ochieng, 14, said he would not be pleased with the new government
until Mr. Kibaki found jobs for his parents, who have been without work sin=
ce
2000. "I may go to school for free but what's the point when you do it
with an
empty stomach?" he asked.

The influx of new students was just one sign of change today. The governmen=
t
also announced its intention to set up a special commission to look at some
notorious unsolved killings and major corruption cases during the Moi years=
.

"The government will set up a commission to handle various human rights
violations that have been committed in Kenya since independence," Kiraitu
Murngi, the new justice and constitutional affairs minister, said at the
swearing-in of the new cabinet.

Among the cases to be investigated are the killing of Julie Ward, a British
tourist whose body was found in the Maasi Mara Game Preserve in 1988,
and the
unsolved killing of Robert Ouko, a former foreign minister, whose death was
widely viewed to be politically motivated. Another case expected to get
renewed scrutiny is the Goldenberg scandal, a shady government export schem=
e
in which millions of dollars disappeared.

"We have learned a lot from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Sout=
h
Africa and other commissions in Latin America," Mr. Murngi said.
"Whether the
unlucky ones will be free or be prosecuted will be the work of the National
Assembly."

During his inaugural speech on Dec. 30, which was attended by hundred of
thousands of Kenyans, Mr. Kibaki vowed to address criminal violations durin=
g
the Moi years without engaging in "witch hunting."



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