35 students arrested over arson

Police on Monday arrested 35 students across Mt. Kenya region after their schools were burnt.

The affected schools are in Kirinyaga, Embu, Meru and Nyeri counties.

In Meru, police arrested 11 students of Rumanthi Secondary School after teachers foiled an attempt to burn a dormitory.

A nearby school, Luuma Secondary, was also closed after a girl’s dormitory was torched.

Buuri chief John Mamira said the fire at Luuma broke out at around 5.30am while students were attending morning preps.

“Investigations are ongoing to establish the cause of the inferno. However, preliminary investigations show that the fire was not caused by an electric fault. Police will soon make arrests,” Mr Mamira said.

INVESTIGATIONS

Mr Mamira said students who were arrested are helping the police with investigations.

In Nyeri, 24 students of Endarasha Boys are in police custody after a dormitory was burnt on Sunday.

Kieni West OCPD Ahmed Ali said the boys are being questioned at Mweiga police station over suspicion of arson.

"We are trying to zero in on the suspects. Once we get them, they will be taken to court," the police boss said.

The school was closed indefinitely on Sunday. Students were told to go home yesterday morning.

Nyeri County Director of Education Moses Makori said the decision to send the students home was made because they do not have accommodation.

The razed dormitory houses 102 students.

"They do not have a place to sleep. The dorm and all their property were destroyed. So we have decided to send them home," he said.

CHURCH SERVICE

The fire is said to have started while the students were attending Sunday’s church service. But the cause has not yet been established.

However, the school management has claimed that the students did not want to sit exams that were set to start on Wednesday.

In Embu, education officials have closed Nguviu High School indefinitely after two dormitories were set on fire on Sunday night.

County Director of Education Margaret Mwirigi said three Form Three students were arrested and they were being questioned over the inferno.

She noted that the fire, which started soon after the World Cup finals, left 224 students without shelter and property worth thousands of shillings.

Ms Mwirigi said the education board was investigating the cause of the fire since she had asked all school principals to allow the students to watch the match.

EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS

The incident at Nguviu High is the first in the entire county, where security agencies and education stakeholders have been meeting to prevent occurrence of the trend that is prevalent in many counties.

"We held a meeting with the principals where I insisted that they must allow students to watch World Cup finals on Sunday. I also urged them to amicably address grievances affecting students and contact us whenever they face difficulties," said Ms Mwirigi.

Local leaders led by Manyatta MP John Muchiri and nominated MCA Sicily Warue visited the school before the decision to close it was reached.

Deputy President William Ruto had two weeks ago promised the school Sh5 million from the national government to boost infrastructure development.

In Kirinyaga County, a dorm was burnt at Kiburu Secondary School.