Dear Sossion, I am in trouble for closing school early. Please help

Although Bensouda never convened a press conference to inform Mwisho wa Lami that she would be away for long  and that she would leave me in charge  the fact is that I have been Acting Headmaster of Mwisho wa Lami Primary School, and will continue acting for some time.

And although she did not give me express permission to sit in her office, I started doing so last week, although I wouldn’t let anyone sit in mine – except Nzomo who is, unofficially, my deputy. The last time Bensouda was in this school was three weeks ago.

As HM, it meant that I spent most of my time managing the school, and was unable to attend my classes, much to Mwisho’s detriment.

Matters were not made any better for our school by the fact that Rumona, my former sister-in-law, went for maternity leave, and left a huge gap that we’ve been struggling to fill. Before she went to download her files, Rumona had been covering for Saphire, a teacher only by name.

As a result, most classes have, in the past few weeks, been unattended. Last Saturday, I called Bensouda and told her of our tribulations.

“It is quite difficult to keep operating this way,” I said.

“Are you fully engaging the teachers available?” she asked me. “From where I sit, Mwisho wa Lami is overstaffed,” she added.

STAFFING PROBLEMS

“Madam, you know the teachers here,” I said. “Ruth just came from maternity leave and can’t do early morning classes, while Lutta has to go to the farm before he comes to school.”

“And what have you done about it?” she asked me.

“Madam, it is a problem you are also aware of and ...”

“I asked what you have done about it, Andrew,” she cut me short harshly.

 “I will try to have them stay in school longer,” I said.

“Do not try; do it,” she said. “What about Mrs Atika?”

“Madam HM, you know Mrs Atika ... her husband is a senior person at Jogoo House, so she does what she wants.”

“Dre, you are paid to ensure teachers do their job, and I expect you to do that, sawa?”

I agreed, reluctantly.

“And next time you call me with problems, have solutions as well. I will be in school a week before KCPE, and want to believe I left able hands in charge of the school.”

“Yes madam,” I said.

“Make difficult decisions,” she said. “I will support you if they are good.”

That Saturday, I thought about how I’d crack the whip on the errant teachers. I drafted an SMS to send to all of them inviting them for a staff meeting on Tuesday at 7.30 a.m. but decided against it as I knew some would smell a rat and not attend at all. I decided to use a strategy I like to call “shock and awe”.

I arrived at school at 7 a.m., just as the students were arriving. I asked those students present to kneel at the gate. My plan was that the teacher on duty would punish them as soon as he arrived. By 8.20 a.m. no teacher had arrived so I released them. Tito arrived at 8.40. I asked him who was on duty. He said it was Saphire.

GLOOMY MORNING

“Oh my God,” I said and asked Tito to take over.

“I stood in for Rumona last week, I can’t stand in again,” he said, but immediately complied on seeing my stern face.

“Tell everyone we have a staff meeting at 9.17 a.m,” I told him, and walked to the HM’s office. I received an SMS from Nzomo: “Hi dear, I am away invigilating KCSE until November. Will miss you while away but my door is always wide open for you any time. Xoxoxo.”

Although I was angry, I was soothed by that magic word. “Xoxoxo” has such a relaxing effect on me. I walked to the staffroom at 9.12 a.m. and only found Tito and Anita. “Where are the rest?” I enquired.

“Madam Mary is away invigilating KCSE,” said Tito. “Who approved that?” I barked. “Call her back.”

“Dre, I also just passed by to pick something,” started Anita. “I am invigilating at St Theresa’s and I’m leaving as rehearsals start today.”

“With whose permission?” I asked. “How come I don’t know and I’m the acting HM? You are not going anywhere.”

“There is only one HM here, Dre. Her name is Skastina,” said Anita as she left. I received an SMS from Mrs Atika. She had travelled to Nairobi over the long weekend and would be returning on Tuesday night. It was a crisis.

I told Tito that our work would only be to ensure pupils remained quiet. “There will be no teaching today.”

It worked in the morning but there was no helping it in the afternoon. Madam Ruth came in at midday but just sat in the staffroom saying she was tired, while Lutta came but left before I could talk to him. You don’t want me to tell you about Saphire ...

In the afternoon, Tito dealt with several cases of noise-makers and a class fight. The same situation played out on Wednesday and we had to release the students after lunch. I had to make a decision on Thursday: a difficult decision. We decided to send the children home except for Classes 7 and 8.

“If we can have a full staffroom next week, we will recall the rest of the pupils,” I said. Only Tito, Mrs Atika and Luta were in school. Everyone was in agreement. It was a difficult call, even an illegal one, but Bensouda’s words comforted me: “...leadership is about making difficult decisions.”

SCHOOL'S UP

News of my early closure of the school spread like bush fire and for the rest of the day, I was the recipient of both congratulatory and cautionary messages.

I was prepared for any consequences and I was, therefore, not surprised when I got a call from Bensouda on Friday morning. She called several times but I did not pick it up. Mrs Atika came in at 9.03 a.m. She was on a call.

“We advised him otherwise but he insisted on closing the school,” I heard her say. “Ndiye huyu, ongea na yeye.” She handed me her phone.

“What is this I am hearing, and why are you not picking up my calls?” she asked. I did not answer her. “You are not talking to me? Let us meet at the County Education office on Monday morning. I hope by then you will have re-opened the school,” She hang up.

I was not going to re-open the school. Later, I heard Mrs Atika tell the pupils to tell others to return to school the following day. As for me, I await my date with the County Director of Education tomorrow.

Wish me luck. I am counting on Sossion to save me.