Students protest suspension, sue school for unfair treatment

Two parents have moved to court seeking re-admission of their children who were suspended nearly three months ago for jointly defiling their colleague while in school.

The parents claimed that their children were wrongly charged with the offence of gang defiling their schoolmate.

They said they were released on a Sh100,000 bond following tramped up charges and therefore the continued suspension will make them lag behind in their studies.

In the case documents, they claimed that the complainant in the defilement case, a form two student, fabricated the allegations so that he could be transferred from the school.

They also claimed that despite the fact that their children were arrested and charged at the Kibera Law Courts over the said offense in May, the school administration simply chased them away as well as locked them out without written communication indicating whether they had been suspended or expelled.

They alleged that their sons are bound to suffer irreparably since they are KCSE candidates, their full year fees had already been paid and that the education Cabinet Secretary has banned inter school transfers.

“After our sons were released, they went back to school with the intention of continuing with their studies but the Principal refused to allow them back on grounds that they had to complete their criminal case first,” they said.

The court was also told that boys have gone into depression and are also traumatized since their right to education has been infringed.

Through lawyer Benjamin Musyoki, the two parents sued the School’s Principal and its board of directors.

Mr Musyoki accused the school administration of failing to take the students through a disciplinary process and bluntly condemning them without a fair hearing, contrary to the Basic Education Act.

He faulted the school of taking an unfair administrative action.

“The act of locking their sons out of school is against the regulation on how to handle disciplinary cases yet the act of expelling or suspending a student for more than two weeks period is vested on the County director of education,” he said.

But according to the school, officers from Kabete police station arrested the minors on May 17 without informing the administration why they wanted them taken into custody.

The Principal explained that police requested to have access to three minors and the school only came to learn later that they had been charged with defiling their schoolmate.

The school head also claimed that he had demanded an explanation on why they had been taken into custody but they were reluctant to tell him and that is why they had been locked out.

“The charge against the minors is a very grievous and sensitive one, in the circumstances, the school being a boarding institution with a population of over 1000 students who are at risk, there is a real danger of riots between form two’s and four’s if they are allowed back,” Mr Benjamin Ngahu for the school said.

The school firmly insisted that the children should remain suspended until the matter before Court is concluded.

The parents want it declared that the right of the minors to a fair administrative action, fair hearing and education have been violated.

They also want the school permanently barred from stopping their sons from accessing their education in that school and that the administration be ordered to compensate their children for violating their rights.

Justice Edward Muriithi will on June 20 rule on whether to temporarily cancel the suspension.