Focus on Africa

Is laxity behind schools fires in Kenya?

In recent years, there have been several incidents of fires at boarding schools in Kenya, causing concern about safety measures in place. Is accountability possible?

Dark days ahead as Zambia plans to shut down its hydropower plant at Kariba due to drought

And how changing forms of payment for land are affecting women farmers in Sierra Leone.

Presenter: Audrey Producers :Frenny Jowi, Susan Gachuhi and Charles Gitonga in Nairobi. Blessing Aderogba in Lagos and Bella Hassan in London. Technical Producer: Jack Graysmark Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Editors Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi.

Duration:: 34m
Broadcast on:: 10 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Hello and welcome to this podcast from the BBC World Service. Please let us know what you think and tell other people about us on social media. Podcasts from the BBC World Service are supported by advertising. "Hi everyone, my name is Natasha Rothwell and I'm here to tell you about my brand new show on Hulu called How to Die Alone." "I play the character of Melissa. She has no ambition, no love life and no money, but what she does have is a reason to be the badass bitch she was meant to be." "Huh? I can't say bitch. Okay. She has a reason to be the woman she was meant to be." "You know what? Just tell the belief guy to stick around because I'm just getting f***ing started." "Stream new episodes of How to Die Alone Fridays on Hulu." "Good taste is easy to spot, but hard to pin down. You know it when you see it. And in today's culture, there's no greater signifier of taste than the car you drive. You want something sophisticated, but not stodgy. Daring yet classic. 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"It's Tuesday, the 10th of September." "First, we go to Nairobi." "The news from Kenya has been heartbreaking over the last few days. 21 children died in a fire at a boarding school last week. They really were children, some as young as six. About 17 others are still missing. Their grief-stricken parents camping out at the school, waiting for news. There have been other art and attacks on schools since this is the most recent one. These children join a grim list of more than a hundred others who have died in school-related fires in the last two decades in Kenya. 10 girls died in a fire in 2017 and the deadliest fire to date is the one in 2001 in which 67 children died. A recent report from the Ministry of Education says there were 126 cases of arson in boarding schools in just one year. In 2021, there was an average of three fires a week. So the problem is well documented, but it continues. These fires happen in mostly boarding schools and the education ministry says learners are mostly responsible for setting them. Kenyan parents send their children to boarding schools because they believe to provide a better education than day schools. Many are now changing their minds, citing unsatisfactory safeguarding at these schools. My name is Ashley Wangaragikaro. I attended a public boarding school in Kiambo County. My experiences in high school were a bit different. I would miss my mom, I would miss her cooking because the food there was really disgusting. In my school, our classes were a bit congested. We used to have emergency windows, emergency doors, emergency stairs, but we really never had any safety training from no one. And I remember during that time we had a strike. It was around 2014. The school really handled the matter really poorly. This is a group of young girls trying to bring out the grievances, you know, being democratic as possible. They had to go for backup, you know, for assistance from the area police station, which was really chaotic because they had guns, they were shooting on there. Students, you know, went to stampeding and really had a lot of casualties, which was, you know, it could have been prevented. If there was proper response, at least maybe the principal would have called us to a hall, let her know why I was striking. Personally, you know, nothing has changed, nothing is new. The food is still the same till date. I really not want to let my child go off my wing, not in a boarding school. I'll really look for them to school in a day, school, I get to see them, or even have them come to school if I can afford it. Julius Ogone went to a boarding school in the 1980s, and he later sent his son to one as well. He's a disaster management specialist, and he told me that slipping standards are behind the fires. So you went to boarding school, right? Yes. How long ago was it? Oh, ages back, man. I entered from one in 1979. Right, and so you spent all your high school. Yes, from one to form six. Okay, that's a while ago. Tell us, what was it like? Did you get any training on how to deal with a fire or any other safety training while you were there? Yes, yes, and most of us were scouts. That was part of the training, firefighting, fast aid, such a rescue. We had all those within the scouting movement. Was that particular to your school, or was it taught at all schools in Kenya? It was a mandatory requirement to be taught in all schools. Does that happen today? No. Do you know why not? You know, things exist in PEPPA, but there's something called enforcement. They're not being enforced, but they're there in PEPPA. I mean, the laxity from the Ministry of Education. What about the teachers? I mean, can they take the initiative themselves? Well, there are some schools where the teachers take the initiative to train, do fire drills for students, teach them fast aid, mock drills so that students are prepared. But majority of schools where there are no strong movements of scouts and guidelines, if it happens, it happens. But there's a requirement that these things should be in place. So let's talk about the recurring school fires in Kenya, and especially boarding schools. Can you explain why you think they happen so frequently? Because we report about school fires in Kenya quite a lot. Of course, there are other fires, but school fires seem to be a very particular problem. Okay, let's start. Is it accidental? That's one. Fire can't be accidental. Two. Is it human error? Which causes that fire? Three. Is it manmade? And when you say manmade, do you mean deliberate? Yes, when a child decides I want to ban, because they did this content, they have got a grudge against the school. The teachers are not listening or the parents are not listening, the community are not listening. Then they say, okay, now we are going to riot. Then they just let it fire. That's a manmade problem. So if you look at it accidental, it could be there was a fault. Like we say, there's an electrical fault. But still, we have what we call routine inspection and maintenance of infrastructure. There are people who are supposed to be doing routine inspection of even the dormitories. Make sure the electric cars are okay. Installations are okay. They are no leakages. And even building inspectors, because actually people were supposed to be inspecting buildings at the government officers from the Ministry of Wax and Housing. And there's a routine timetable which they are supposed to follow and inspect schools. You know, make sure that the buildings are okay. The fire extinguishers are in place and they are working. You know, there are fire blankets. The skate groups are clear. The fencing around the school is secure. Things like that. And the children know what to do in case of a fire? Yes, the children are trained and drilled that in case of a fire. This is the skate route. Assembly point will be in such a place. So there's a lot which we need to put in place to make sure that our children are safe. You have a child in boarding school right to you? My son was in boarding school from class 6 to form 4. Right, so you had a child in boarding school when your son was at the boarding school. Did he know any of these things? Was his school safe? Were you satisfied? Yes, it was because as a parent, whenever we went for parents meeting, these are some of the things we used to talk about with the school authorities. Okay, I mean, I made it as a personal initiative. Every time we are in school, that makes sure that the dorms are inspected. When the kids go to sleep, somebody must make sure that they are all called taken and each child is in bed, the morning is the same. So do you think that now that we have these very high profile events, these tragic events with all these children dying in fires, that there will be accountability? People will demand that somebody answer for this and that somebody fixes it? We will be there, but I can tell you, in Kenya, we are always a reactionary society. We react when it is burning. After 2-3 weeks, when something else comes up, everybody will forget that we lost the government itself. They will forget that we lost children in Hillside and the Russia Academy. And it will be left for the school to now deal with the parents. So this consistency and sustainability in fighting some of these things is also lacking. We start inspecting schools right from that time and make sure it is a routine thing, whether there is an incident or not. I would like to see the participation of the government till the end, and then they should come up and say, "This particular fire was caused by ABCD." Can you tell us for those people listening right now, what are the three topmost safety requirements for us if we should be facing a fire in the building? If there is a fire, do you try and put it out or do you leave the building, alert somebody? What do you do? The first one, run. If you can't get out of that place and escape. Two, if you can't hide, get a safe place to hide. If you can't hide in a safe place or there is no place for you to hide, then you have no alternative to now fight. Fighting should be the last option. If you know how to operate a fire extinguisher, fight the fire. If you are fighting a fire, for instance, you don't know what caused the fire, people's first instinct is to throw water on the fire. We are talking about a situation where there are no fire extinguishers. You will fight with water you have at hand. If you are buckets, you have a tap where you can get the water, try and pour that water. But also the danger is that sometimes you can try to put off a fire electrical fire with water, because electrical fires are very dangerous. Right, so don't use water in electric fire or when petrol is being burned. So can we put sand on that or can we cover it with a blanket? So let me summarize. If it's an electric fire, don't use water. If it's a petrol fire, don't use water. Use sand or smother it with a blanket. But actually, run. Please, if you can't, run. Julius Ogone, a disaster management specialist. Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing severe electricity shortages with Zambia being the worst affected. Things are so bad that some residents in the capital, Lusaka, are going several days without electricity. While Zimbabwe is facing up to 18 hours of power outages a day, the causes for these shortages are different to the reasons why South Africa had recently been suffering a lack of power. Or low-cheting, as it's called. The cause of the shortages for Zimbabwe and Zambia is a lack of water in the dam that powers their economies, Kariba. A severe drought is behind the low water levels, and so Zambia is going to have to shut down the turbines that generate power. We'll hear what the power utility Zesco intends to do shortly, but first, how are people coping? The power crisis has literally turned our lives upside down. As I speak to you now, we have not had electricity for good two days. Now, the people that we buy foodstuffs from are having to, the butcheries are having to invest in generators, which has doubled or even tripled the price of goods. Because they are also fitting in their cost of fuel, their cost of the gen-set into, and they need to recover that from ourselves. So, the load shedding has equally affected the price of goods and even services. As a software engineer, I rely heavily on electricity to power the gadgets I need to work, such as laptops. In my area, which is kept longer, we often experience power outages for up to 21 hours a day, with electricity typically returning between 5 and 6 am. While I have considered alternative power solutions, the costs are prohibitively high. We have to now constantly be on the lookout of power when it comes, if or where it comes. However, in as much as this power crisis, I think it's also a rude awakening for an ordinary citizen for the alternative power sources. I mean, I have been able to invest in a small generator, at least to enable me to charge my phone, charge my laptop, and my other devices charge my lights, but this also comes at your cost. My cost of petrol has increased quite significantly. Small tasks as well, or tasks that would consider small such as cooking, have also become quite difficult, because usually I would cook on a stove, on an electric stove. But now, because I have not been able to get a gas stove, I am forced to cook on a braisier every day. Which, you know, obviously increases charcoal consumption. For me, it's worrying in terms of the long-term consequences on our environment with how much charcoal we are using. These voices from Lusaka, Matongo Maumbi, is the company spokesperson for Zesco, Zambia's national power utility. So what's the problem, and what's the plan? Zambia, like many parts of the region, have been receiving quite some good rains in the past, but there have been indications of receiving a drought, reduced rainfall. Especially if you are looking at the pattern from the 90s up to now, there has been a steady decrease in terms of water allocations. So this drought actually produced water levels to an extent where even the allocation of the water that can be used for hydropower generation, which is allocated by the Zambezi Revo Authority, was greatly reduced. How much of Zambezi's electricity comes from which sources? So hydro, geothermal, solar, give us a breakdown. We have hydro, stands at 86%, then the rest sharing the 14% with the demo, and the solar is just growing now. Solar is just under 1 or 2%. So hydro is by far the most important. Is the Kariba Dam the biggest supplier of the electricity in Zambia? The Kariba Dam supply is almost 40%. When it's fully functional, it can give about 1080 megawatts of power, and then the others, they come in like a few gauge lower, which give about 990, 750 respectively. And then the other ones are smaller ones, which give just about 150 and much smaller. But in terms of generation, Kariba, when all things are good, is actually the biggest that we have in the country, and it's the oldest that we have. Kariba is not so good at the moment. There's even talk of a shutdown. No, no. What would that mean for Zambia? The power deficit would actually be much larger than it is now. We're talking of at least 300 megawatts in off from what we're already having as a deficit. We're hoping that would mitigate this through other means, especially through inputs, but there are some other challenges that are happening there. But the imminent shutdown of Kariba is likely any day this week, so they're just trying to see how we can manage the available waters that we have for power generation. So people would go to Kariba, they'll see the waters, but then it's not all the waters that they see there that can be used for power generation. So, will that mean that Zambia goes dark, or does that mean that certain places, certain facilities are going to be privileged over the others, you know, get electricity supplied because they're necessary and others will have to do without? Yeah, definitely. We anticipated the shutdown of Kariba, such that when we started the power shunning the lot shedding, we were doing it for eight hours a day. From March, then we increased the survey in May to 12 hours. Then as of first September, we're supposed to have increased to 17 hours of lot shedding and supplying power to about seven hours in residential areas, especially. And that was already factored in. However, from the 22nd of August, we couldn't receive the desired or the ordered quantum in terms of our inputs, because there was a problem on the converter on the Namibian side to transmit power to Zambia. So, this led to a number of residential customers receiving power as low as three hours a day, but this has made us to prioritize the key sectors of the country, the critical sectors, because even as we do the power shunning, there are some institutions, we cannot, and we are not lot shedding examples of hospitals, the mining industry, you're talking of the agricultural sector, you're talking of water pumping stations, and secret wings, and a few other critical areas that do not have to be lot shedding. As South African, when you said low shedding, I got PTSD, because some sectors like hospitals and so on, we're not exempt from low shedding, it got that bad. How are you mitigating the impact of, you know, this looming shutdown? Are you able to get power elsewhere? We are importing power from Mozambique, and we also importing power from South Africa, which has been helpful, especially in mitigating the shot for that we have, especially when you look at the mining mining industry. The imported power is quite expensive, but the mining industry and a few other industry players have been able to pay for that differential expense in terms of that power, making it also possible for us to supply the critical areas like hospitals. So with these power inputs, we've been able to do some medication, as well as doing a lot of customer education in terms of being power efficient, using power efficiently, and also government has put in place solar initiatives, where we are coming in the form of projects to do with net metering, and also opening up the electricity grid to private sector in the form of open access to electricity used in Zambia, as well as opening up the mining grid where people or investors can put up to five megawatts of power without the vigorous hand of the energy regulator, and we are also putting up solar plants across the country that in the medium to long term can be of relief to what we have, because what we are looking at as a corporation is to reduce that dependency from 86% to drop it to below 60%. This drought has affected a number of countries in South Africa, but when you look at East Africa, they are not so much affected, they actually have excess electricity, but because we don't have any data to East Africa, we can't get power from there. So there is a project that is going on, the Zambia Tanzania Kenya project, that is to connect to Zambia or South Africa to East Africa through Tanzania and Kenya, where we can do power trading, also working on something for Angola, and also having a line from Mozambique into Zambia, because currently even the power we are getting from Mozambique has to go through South Africa, Botswana into Zambia. I'm wondering how long before these plants come on stream, and how long can you manage the emergency measures that you've put in place now, how long can Zambia manage to keep that going? The rains are predicted to start in October, and then where we have the biggest hydropower, it takes them two or so months for the waters to fully reach. With the measures that we've put, we're hoping that they would last us until we have good enough waters to resume generation if caliber will still be done, and also beef up generation on these others that are down. Something that we've also done is through working with government, we've managed to procure emergency diesel generators for the immediate relief, because of the challenge of not being able to isolate say market areas hospitals. So what we're doing is we're going to isolate the market area or a hospital from the rest of those that are connected to that grid, so that when we do load shedding, that particular installation can have backup power, and then we can be able to switch off other areas. It will offer a bit of relief in the now, because of course it's quite high, but it is offering quite some relief in the now. Mr. Maumbi, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Matongo Maumbi, company spokesperson for Zesco. This is Focus on Africa from the BBC World Service. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At mid-mobile, we like to do the opposite of what Big Wireless does. They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. Naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you. That's right, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time, unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month slows, full turns at mintmobile.com. Hey, it's Mark Merrin from WTF here to let you know that this podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. And I'm sure the reason you're listening to this podcast right now is because you chose it. Well, choose Progressive's name, your price tool, and you could find insurance options that fit your budget so you can pick the best one for your situation. Who doesn't like choice? Try it at Progressive.com. And now some legal info, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, price and coverage match, limited by state law, not available in all states. We are in Sierra Leone now, where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, employing over 60% of the population. Of that 60%, 70% of them are women. In the northwest of the country, where many women depend on farming, getting land is becoming really difficult. And it is made even more difficult by something called Bora, which ties land access to respect and social obligations rather than formal ownership. Originally, Bora involved giving gifts such as livestock, food or other items to local land owners as a sign of respect and gratitude for being allowed to use their land. It didn't have a monetary value as such, but now it involves cash and not exchange. So how does this change affect women farmers in Sierra Leone? We'll be hearing from Bancolethio Dorture, a postgraduate researcher into land use in Sierra Leone, but let's first listen to Marion, a young woman farmer, who is directly affected by the changing nature of Bora. If I want to farm, then I don't have the cash, the Bora is money, you peep. I don't have that money to give them. You go into percentage, if I give you my land to farm, when you finish harvesting, you might give them 40% and then you take 60%. Some might take 30%, you take 70%. That's how it works. If you want to go for this Bora, don't tell me categorically that. I just want to give my land to a woman or a lady. I just want you to bring somebody as if, okay, this is your man, or I want this man to stand by you. As if you know those people believe in traditions, they believe in leadership. So they just want somebody that would say, okay, I want the man to stand. If we are going to give you a hand over the land to the man, and then you pay the money, we know that you're the one that is farming, but at least maybe it's meant to be in the middle of this individual. Now to Bancole. How exactly does Bora work? Basically Bora is a traditional means of talking. Whenever you go into the elders or the chiefs, whether it's for land, or you're seeking the honor of a woman. In my age, or you're going to introduce yourself for the first time in the community, or you're going to work in the community. So whatever engagement you're having in communities is always a customary practice for you to give Bora to the elders or the chiefs. And you become more common practice when it comes to land access for both women, my grand, people from non-assessed their land owners. So they give Bora. Bora was not monetized before now. You can give me the form of agricultural goods, rice, chicken, goods, whatever, or the goods you're investing at the end of the year. That was how it was, and it was not tagged at any cost or at any commodity. You can give the minimum you can, and it was just a sign of respect to the elders and the land owners families. So how was that affected various people who would have used Bora as a means of cultural exchange and respect? And that now being monetized and with land being so much in demand, it means that the highest bidder gets the prize. How does it affect the other people who perhaps won't have the money to pay the prize? In most instances, they don't have access to land, and the Bora in most communities is a must. It's not something you negotiate, you go around, you have to pay it. And if you don't pay it, you don't have access to land. In some other cases, they're after my goods, some come to the biggest city to do other activities of my job. And in other cases, most people, they ended up joining with other families or relatives who are engaging in farming activities who have paid the money, the products from the total I call the job. So it becomes more challenging for particularly women who comes from many households that they cannot even meet their basic needs to risk. And most of the farmers in Sierra Leone, I believe, are women, about 60 to 70% of them. So this practice affects small-scale women farmers, particularly, right? How are they fairing? How are they doing if there's a competition for land with other people or other institutions that want land? Firstly, doing my study, I picked it up that in most communities, the women keep referring to small-scale women farmers, particularly, right? Firstly, doing my study, I picked it up that in most communities, the women keep referring to that you have to pay for you to access the land. It was not essential to have three more miles. This is basically looking at women's access and understanding the conflict in the pay of our community. So Bora comes up as a theme that I need to explore more to understand the dynamics of access when it comes to women. Some communities where they have organizations, both the government, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, interventions, they are able to lessen the burden of Bora, two cooperatives that have established within those communities, including women and men, training, empowerment, capacity, street provision. So in most instances, Bora is not something that is a challenge for them. And it has increased their productivity, it has increased their income. When you go to other communities who have less of these interventions from organizations, civil society organizations, and as well as the government, they are practically still stuck into the Bora system, and their production is very low, income is very low. And so in the instance where they could not afford to pay the Bora in most cases, like I indicated earlier, they leave. Some leave the communities to go to urban areas where they can do better to the street or king, but has ended up joining with Bora family members, or relative square, being agricultural activities who have completed the Bora. So it's more about the awareness that has been created for some community. It has reduced policing, the impact of Bora on their access to land. For other communities who have limited or no interventions from organizations, they are still struggling with the Bora issue and access to land. It's out there leading out without Bora. We're talking about the numbers of women who are actually farmers in Sierra Leone. They're the majority of farmers in the country. How important is it for Sierra Leone to have women farmers? Oh, it's very, very important. You know, women, they are like the communal consciousness of society. They contribute to the solidarity, unity, social cohesion. Of course, the house quality. So they're very significant when a consternation building from the household to the community, the larger society, and the country at lunch. In some instances are the sole Berliners. In some other instances, they add the cultivators, they are the producers, and they are in the market. So in all spheres of production, taking care of the own society, you find women. And a society by the last statistics, we have more women than me. And so depriving them of to an access to a very essential commodity, it would like cutting their legs out from the start. And so land is an integral part of women's contribution to society because bulk of their income is land-based, and majority of our population lives in Overlandia. And most of our overlandia, they engage in agricultural production. So land access is affecting women. Of course, it has general effects on the nation's economy and specifically on the household land communities. So if women are so important to farming in Sierra Leone, how come they are not owners of land? Well, firstly, we have to take a historical overview. Before power to colonialization, we have a strong, practical system where men are considered as the heads of household. And they are considered as the leaders in most families and in most communities. And so land predominantly in the customary setting is in the hands of men. So if a woman wants access to land, you have to go to your husband, your father, your elder brother, or an uncle. So that has been in existence till independence. And so even after independence is practiced, we come widespread among common men still control land. In fact, in the Northwest, when my study is based, all the traditional leaders there have been made. And so it becomes very difficult when it comes to access to land for women in a community-real leadership goals in community and household decision-making processes have been taken by men. And so women just serve as followers or just bloody massive men in most instances. And so this structure has gone on for decades with men in control of land. Women needing access to land after going to a men figure for each access land. Now we know that societies change, conventions change, more is change. Is there any sign that this pattern of ownership where men control access to land and women merely work it is changing? Can it change? Yes, it can. It can change. There's so much effort that has been done. Currently, Sahelian becomes the first continuous staff for Africa so after Tanzania to pass the customer and act in 2022. Together we are establishing the land commission. And so those are like signs that with statutory instruments and continuing engagements, things will change for the better. And then, educates both men and women are adding importance of women's access to land. We will be able to beat this cake tradition of coastal land that has helped women for so long. Bancole Thiodor Turre, a Sierra Leonean doctoral scholar in sustainable urbanization. Focus on Africa was put together by Franny Joey, Susan Gashui and Charles Gittonga in Nairobi. Blessing Aderogba is in Lagos and Bella Hassan is here in London. A technical producer with Jack Raizmark, the senior producer, Paul Batchabinger and our editors, André Lombard and Alice Moudengi. Tomorrow morning, our sister podcast, Africa Daily, looks at what happened to some of Somalia's top basketball players after they were forced to flee from the civil war back in 1991. Alan Kasuja, speak to them about their annual reunions in a U.S. high school gym to share stories, reminisce and, of course, to play basketball. I'm Audrey Brown. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, potential savings will vary, not available in all states. What's up, y'all? Janice Torres here. And I'm Austin Hankowitz. We're the hosts of Mind the Business, Small Business Success Stories, a podcast presented by iHeartRadio's, Ruby Studios and Intuit QuickBooks. Join us as we speak with small business owners about the tools they use to turn their ideas into success. From finding that initial spark of entrepreneurship to organizing payments and invoices, we've got you covered. So follow and listen to Mind the Business, Small Business Success Stories on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. [BLANK_AUDIO]