BY MWANAHABARI REPORTER
Students who may have participated in the burning down of schools risk being locked up in jail for a very long time if the proposal by governor Wycliffe Oparaya is adopted.
A fuming Oparanya proposed tougher punishment for students behind the current wave of fires that have left a trail of destruction running into millions.
Oparanya wants those found culpable to serve a minimum sentence of 60 years in jail to serve as a warning.
The governor said: “What I know is that there won’t be government funds that will go to repairing the schools.”
“We as parents should warn our kids not to commit such atrocities.”
“I instruct the magistrate that if they find any student guilty, he or she should be jailed for 60 years and they get out when they are older. This is to serve as a lesson to others,” he stated.
Many, however, feel that Oparanya’s proposal is on the extreme – arguing that the country has adequate laws to deal with such culprits.
Currently, there are approved juvenile detentions where students found culpable may be help especially because they are minors.
Oparanya’s call comes at a time when the country has witnessed widespread cases of school fires – that have left over 30 schools destroyed – and students sent home.