Why Kisumu Girls High School students went on a rampage

Lack of religious freedom and strict policy on interacting with students from other schools were among reasons Kisumu Girls High School students rioted, forcing authorities to shut it down.

On Monday, the school community walked up to vandalised fire extinguishers, smashed windows and ripped school books, the product of angry students who accused their principal Margaret Mechumo of curtailing their freedom.

Ms Mechumo refused to respond to Nation enquiriesbut the local county director of education, Sabina Aroni, said the students had been sent home indefinitely after they went on a rampage.

FORCED MASS

Ms Aroni said students were against compulsory church services and restrictions on entertainment.

“We had to close down the school because there was a lot of disturbance since Sunday evening. Their grievances touched on entertainment, freedom of worship and to some level, their food," she said without elaborating.

She said the investigation into the school unrest has been launched.

The Nation, however, learnt of the chain of events that led to the eruption of violence at the school.

First, the girls claimed a number of them have been railroaded into Catholic Mass, regardless of whether they profess the faith or not. Another student told the Nation ta section of them had been denied the right to worship on Saturdays.

MUSLIM STUDENTS

“The whole problem started on Saturday when the Principal denied a section of Muslim students time to go for daily worship. They were punished, instead, and told to go back to class,” said the student.

The unrest started on Sunday evening after the students raised complaints on issues of entertainment, lack of freedom of worship and food to the school’s principal.

To vent their frustrations, the students destroyed the dining hall, computer hall and smashed windows.

BOYS SCHOOLS

The girls claim the current school leadership has restricted their interaction with other schools.

“We are not allowed to go do other extra curriculum activities with ease. She is always accusing us of misbehaving with our counterpart, Kisumu Boys,” she said.

The student also complained about their diet, claiming they were denied access to foodstuffs available at the school canteen.

“The food is not health at all. We have heard of cases where a student found a razor blade in a meal,” said another student.

GRIEVANCES GENUINE

A parent, who only identified himself as David, said he was concerned over his daughter’s welfare after receiving news of the school’s unrest over the radio.

“I heard over the radio at 10pm last night that students were on strike. I wasn’t at peace, I was worried about my daughter considering there was heavy police presence in the school,” he said.

Former Nominated MCA Farida Salim said most of the students’ grievances are genuine.

“Matters on religion are very emotive. The Muslim students are suffering in the school. They are not allowed to pray at least five times a day as is required of our faith. On Saturday, students shared with me that they were punished and told that the school is not a mosque.”

According to the former MCA, a section of the students were denied the opportunity to go for Idd-ul-Fitr prayers.

“After Ramadhan, there comes Idd-ul-Fitr prayers. The government declared that day a public holiday. However, students were denied the opportunity to go for prayers despite pleading with the principal,” she said.

She added: “The reason religion classes were introduced was to allow the bringing up of morally upright students. Here, it is an offence to worship yet freedom of worship is guaranteed in the new Constitution.”