Senators set to grill CS Matiang’i over student unrest

Senators have summoned Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i over the wave of school unrest, even as another institution was closed indefinitely after a dormitory went up in flames.

The lawmakers on Wednesday said it was worrying that school property continued to be destroyed without anyone being arrested for it.

They said the CS must tell the House why the unrest has failed to subside despite his efforts to stop it.

Senate Education Committee chairman Daniel Karaba (TNA) said they had asked the CS to present himself next Tuesday to furnish them with details on the causes of the fires and what the ministry was doing to stop them.

“We will hold the session in the Senate chambers so that many members can attend,” said Mr Karaba.
More than a dozen schools have suffered arson attacks over the past one month, mostly in the South Rift and Kisii.

Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi (APK) said the unrest was spreading and could paralyse learning across the country.

“It is now a national problem. The CS should appear before the whole House instead of the committee. It is surprising that one dormitory is being burnt after another. In one case, a dormitory was burnt just the same day the CS visited a school,” said Mr Murungi.

He was referring to Nyamache High School in Kisii County, whose students burnt a dormitory after Dr Matiang’i had visited.

“School properties are being destroyed by criminals and nothing is happening to them. It is the parents who are paying for this,” added the Meru senator.

Dr Matiang’i has tried to rein in the unrest by proscribing tougher penalties, including barring students suspected of involvement in arson being barred from being admitted to other schools. He has also warned that parents will be asked to pay for the destruction in schools.

Nominated Senator Janet Ongera (ODM) said the CS should also be questioned on why the head teachers of the affected schools had been quickly transferred.

The other schools affected are Itierio Boys, also in Kisii County, Tengecha High, Kaplong Boys and Longisa High schools, all in the South Rift.

The most recent fire incident was at Rongai High School in Nakuru County. The school has been closed indefinitely following the blaze that gutted one of its dormitories on Tuesday night.

Students were sent home yesterday. The Rongai Sub-County Director of Education, Ms Janet Ochieng, said the cause of the 8pm fire had not yet been established, though an electrical fault was suspected.

According to one of the teachers, Mr Mathews Okubi, the students were in their evening preps when the fire broke out.

The OCPD, Mr Joseph Mwamburi, said investigations to establish the cause of the fire were underway.

And in Nyamira, police are looking for a man who attempted to set ablaze more dormitories at St Andrews Kaggwa Boys Primary, less than 24 hours after two others were burnt. The arsonist’s bid was thwarted by the public.

INSIDE JOB

Police said the suspect had gone through a fence and entered the compound on Wednesday afternoon, while armed with petrol and a matchbox, but escaped when he was confronted by alert villagers.

Nyamira County Education Director Didacus Odhiambo said the burning of the school’s dormitories on Monday night was an inside job.

And in Kisii, local Kuppet branch has vowed to sue the government if it does not rescind the decision to interdict principals in the schools hit by fires across the country.

(READ: Two dormitories reduced to ashes in different schools)

Kisii County union boss Albert Omari said they would go to the Industrial Court to seek the overturning of the interdictions. He termed the Teachers Service Commission’s decision to send the principals home as rushed and lacking in wisdom.

On Wednesday, the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association Kisii County chairman, Mr Jairus Onchoke, blamed the wave of arson attacks on wide media publicity.

The reporting, he claimed, encouraged students to engage in the vice. But he also said some incidents were being executed by outsiders.

Reported by Jeremiah Kiplangat by Joseph Openda and Elgar Machuka