On the Thursday before Easter, Kenyans woke up to a nightmare. Garissa University College had been ambushed by terrorists. This terror attack left 148 people dead and all parents with their offspring in any tertiary institution worried sick. The security of students, especially in isolated areas, remains wanting. It’s clear Kenyan students are terrified as a week later we witnessed chaos at the University of Nairobi's Kikuyu campus after a transformer exploded and it was assumed Al-shabaab had raided the campus.

With this put into consideration, the Garissa Medical Training College administration requested the county commissioner provide the institution with armed security. This request was declined with the government stating that they could not provide the number of security personnel the institution had asked for. After internal consultations, it was agreed that the college be closed as they could not gamble with the lives of students. The students will be sent to other colleges while staff will remain at the institution as they await orders from Nairobi.

Have we learned our lesson to ensure the students' security will be a matter of great importance? It is every parent's nightmare to have to bury their child. The questions that linger are: What other long-lasting solutions are we taking to keep Al-shabaab away from our borders? Are the police well-equipped? For how long will clauses in the terror bill remain suspended without proper reform, and how many lives will be lost before then?