Owner of school still walks free despite death of eight and injury of 60 learners

A day after the tragedy that snuffed out the lives of eight pupils and injured more than 60 when a classroom structure at Precious Talents Top School in Nairobi collapsed, no arrests have been made.

The school’s owner, Mr Moses Wainaina, and his wife Freshia Wainaina, who serves as the school administrator, were still walking free and it was not clear what charges would be preferred against them, if any.

800 PUPILS

Nairobi regional police commander Philip Ndolo declined to comment on the matter, saying instead that action would be taken based on recommendations of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

“Let’s wait until the investigations are concluded,” Mr Ndolo said in a text message in response to our inquiries.

The school, with a population of more than 800 children, turned into a death trap for children on Monday morning after the floor of one of the classrooms collapsed.

Experts immediately pointed accusing fingers at the building, which they said was a structural failure with just two-inch foundation that could barely support its weight.

According to lawyer Evans Mirieri, prosecutors have an array of charges to prefer against the owner of the collapsed building.

“He can be charged with murder or manslaughter. He can further be charged with section 30 or 31 of the Physical Planning Act if he failed to comply with guidelines governing buildings meant for commercial use,” Mr Mirieri said.

Families of the injured can also pursue charges, ranging from grievous harm to injury occasioned by collapse of the building.

REPORTING TIME

While admitting that the school is duly registered, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha vowed that a thorough probe would be conducted on the possible causes of the disaster, and action taken.

‘‘I wish to state categorically that children of Kenyans are safe in schools… This single tragic incident must not be used by anyone to instil fear in learners in both public and private schools,’’ Prof Magoha said.

Prof Magoha took issue with the weak storey structure the pupils had been crammed in, which he insinuated should not have been erected in the first place.

“If no storey had been built on top of that structure, no children would have died,” he said.

The CS also faulted the time the pupils had reported to school, 6am, which is too early for learners in pre-primary. On Tuesday, parents of those who perished in the tragedy recorded statements with the DCI at Kabete. Postmortem examination of the bodies is expected to take place tomorrow.

SEWER LINE

Besides the owners of the building, officials at both the Ministry of Education and the Nairobi County, who allowed the school to operate, will also be answerable for negligence, which resulted in the deaths and injuries.

From his impersonal tone and lack of remorse when he addressed the media following the school tragedy at Ngando in Dagoretti, Mr Wainaina, the proprietor of Precious Talents Academy, demonstrated a characteristic arrogance with which he seems to have operated the school for more than 10 years.  

Although structural integrity of the classes he has put up were questioned by all and sundry, Mr Wainaina confidently pointed fingers elsewhere, while absolving himself from blame. “They had good intentions to help this school but an accident has happened,” Mr Wainiana said in reference to a sewer line that the county government of Nairobi had sunk behind the ill-fated building.

Opinion is divided on the character of Mr Wainaina, with some parents and neighbours describing him as an arrogant businessman, and others saying he is quite understanding and would permit children to continue with their studies even when they had fees arrears.

Mr Wainaina is a familiar figure in Ngando, Dagoretti residents say. He is not only the owner of the most populous school in the area, but is also their neighbour. They describe him as a simple man with nothing elaborate about him.

CATCH-22

‘‘He drives an old Toyota Rav 4 car,’’ Mr Nyongesa, a local bishop who knows him, told the Nation. “Mr Wainaina and his family have lived here for more than 10 years,’’ Mr Nyongesa added. A parent with a child in the school, who identified herself only as Grace, said Mr Wainaina is a conceited man who brushes off parents’ concerns, and often expels children whose parents complain about the school.

“Most of us have only kept our children in the school because we have nowhere else to take them,” said Grace. It is this desperation by parents that Mr Wainaina is said to have been exploiting for many years.

Parents have another Catch-22 situation. Precious Talents Academy is the best performing school in the area. In last year’s KCPE, for instance, the school had seven candidates who scored more than 400 marks while the majority got more than 350 marks.

With this impressive performance, parents are often hesitant to transfer their children to other schools. 

PERFORMANCE

“He supervises teaching in the school in person,” Mr Njeru, a parent with a child in the school, told the Nation. “He works until late in the evening most of the times.”

“My two children and those of my brother have all gone through the school, from Standard One to Standard Eight. The teachers emphasise a lot on performance,” another parent said.

When the Nation visited the school yesterday, Mr Wainaina and his wife were meeting the school’s managers at the institution.

Mr Wainaina, however, refused to talk to us about the tragedy, and left the compound in a huff under the pretext of answering a phone call.

 But perhaps it’s his alleged collusion with the former area chief that gave Wainaina some immunity, according to parents and school neighbours.

“For years, pupils in this school have not been breaking for public holidays. He would keep them in school because the chief overlooked it. Leaners were in school even during the recent national census,” Nyongesa said.