Parents have accused second hand book sellers of conniving with students to steal books from their peers.
The parents said that there has been an upsurge in the stealing of books in the county secondary schools.
“We suspect some of the teenagers in the high schools are earning a living by selling the books to the sellers,” said Patricia Wachira.
She added that she had spotted several books which she had bought for her daughter in form three being sold by various vendors after they went missing last year.
She now wants the Ministry of Education and the police to investigate on the issue.
“We have also received reports that some of the vendors are also intimidating parents who question the availability of the books there,” said Kevin Muchai.
Meanwhile, book sellers have called on the government to ban the sale of the books on the streets saying it was affecting their business.
They pointed out that most of the parents had opted to exchange the books at a cheaper price which forced them to have a lot of dead stock.
“Book sales have been diminishing a lot as many parents are now opting for used books, which they are getting at about 100 shillings cheaper. However, the books are of poor quality as they are written on and torn,” said Linda Muthoni, a representative of book sellers in Nakuru town.