Just hours after the collapse of Precious Talent School in Nairobi, the county Governor Mike Sonko has issued a statement on the incident.
In a Facebook statement, Governor Sonko who had recently gone silent after he was mentioned in the garbage collection scandal, conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the entire school community for the tragic loss which led to the death of seven pupils leaving 64 others injured.
Sonko, while laying down some rot and shortcomings in his administration, promised that his government was going to help reconstruct the school as one way of ensuring minimal interruption to learning at the institution.
The governor also assured to provide personal support in laying the pupils to rest and in treating the injured.
“Lastly, I wish to assure the parents and the entire Precious Talent School community of my personal support, and that of my administration, in laying to rest our departed children, treating the injured and also reconstructing the school to ensure minimal interruption to learning at the institution,” observed Sonko in his statement.
He also promised that in collaboration with the national government, his county government will pursue the prosecution of any official who shall be found culpable of giving a nod to the construction of the collapsed classes.
The City boss confessed that he was aware of other buildings that were approved and never met the specified standards.
“I, therefore, wish to offer my personal commitment to work with the Ministry of Education and all relevant national government departments to ensure that such an incident will never occur again,” Sonko noted.
The governor who took responsibility over the matter also observed that “the inspection and approval of primary and secondary schools fall under the Ministry of Education.”
At the same time, parents from the school insisted they had raised concerns over the safety of the building which was mostly made up of iron sheets, partitioned with plywood and cardboard.
The school had one stone block building. The parents had also complained about the lack of a public primary school in the area.