By REUBEN OLITA
July 14, 2026|Thieves executed a cunning heist at Amagoro Comprehensive School in Busia County, swiping 27 laptops worth KSh400,000 and crippling digital learning for over 1,000 students.
The burglary unfolded Thursday night last week, with raiders first snapping a gate lock to neighboring St. Thomas Amagoro Girls’ Secondary School, then staging a decoy break-in at the kitchen—stealing nothing—to lure the watchman away. As guards focused on the fake scene, the gang slipped into the ICT hub and vanished with the machines.
“They took nothing from the kitchen—it was a distraction,” Principal Ronald Orodi told journalists Monday. The thieves packed the haul into five empty computer cartons and two desk covers, he added. The theft went unnoticed until the ICT teacher arrived Friday morning.
The laptops, donated in January 2024 by US-based alumna Sheran Oradu and her friends, were meant to boost digital literacy. Additional units had been bought to serve rising enrollment. Orodi called the loss a “major blow” to tech education, with students now locked out of ICT lessons.
Police and DCI detectives are on the case. “No stone will be left unturned,” vowed Teso North Police Commander Charles Chepkong’a.
In response, the school’s board plans to hire an insured private security firm. Orodi also thanked well-wishers, including presidential aide Arthur Osiya, who donated solar panels to improve lighting and security.