Head teachers don't cooperate to probe arson cases, says police officer
A firefighter tries to put out an inferno that burnt one of the dormitories in Kwale High School on July 29, 2016. In Mikinduri Girls Secondary School in Meru County, the principal is accused of failing to call for a fire engine. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The incident happened at around 7am on Friday morning when students were attending a church service.
- Parents and journalists were denied access to the institution by a security guard who said police were conducting a probe.
School heads in Meru have been accused of failing to cooperate with security teams during arson investigations, and for slow response when such incidents happen.
In Mikinduri Girls Secondary School, which had a dormitory razed on Friday, the principal is accused of failing to call for a fire engine.
The Sunday Nation also established that the school management did not inform the police on time when the incident occurred.
Tigania East Acting OCPD Joshua Opiyo said he got the information from parents who wanted to know what had happened and if their daughters were safe.
“I was getting reports from social media. The school management had not reported to the area police post. I have sent the OCS to confirm the incident," Mr Opiyo had said on Friday.
Parents and journalists were denied access to the institution by a security guard who said police were conducting a probe.
The incident happened at around 7am on Friday morning when students were attending a church service.
Our efforts to get the school principal's comment did not bear any fruits because her phone was switched off.
The county's fire and rescue services personnel said they had learnt of the incident through the media.
“We learnt from the media that the school’s dormitory was completely destroyed with nothing salvaged during the fire incident. We were never called to the school despite our emergency contacts being public,” the fire personnel told Sunday Nation.
This comes barely a month after eight students from the school were charged in a Tigania court with attempted arson.
Separately, Imenti Central OCPD Boniface Lisiolo has lamented that security teams were having difficulties probing schools unrest due to lack of cooperation from staff.
"Most head teachers are not ready to share crucial information with us. It, therefore, becomes very difficult to investigate arson cases,” said Mr Lisiolo.
Other schools that have experienced unrests include Ruiga Girls Secondary School, Meru School, St Pius X Seminary in Nkubu, St Angelic Girls Secondary, Abuthuguchi Boys Secondary and Gikumene Girls Secondary.
Thirteen students have so far been arraigned in various Meru courts for arson and attempted arson in the last two weeks.
Editing by Philip Momanyi
