After students set fire to a dorm, dining hall, and a class on Monday, July 24, 2023, the Kilgoris Boys High School in Narok County was shut down indefinitely.
Ten kids are currently being held by the police on suspension for setting the fire, according to Phillip Lipaso, the principal of the school.
According to Lipaso, the pupils allegedly set the buildings on fire after the school’s electrical transformer malfunction caused a water shortage.
“We had a shortage of water in the school and we were in communications with Kenya Power to replace the transformer since we use electricity to pump water. However, at around 8:40 pm, some boys started shouting and making noise,” Lipaso noted.
At 9:30 pm, just after the situation had calmed down, the lads resumed their yelling, by which time one class had been destroyed.
“We and other staff and security officials who intervened used the hand fire extinguishers to stop the fire since there was no water, and we managed to put off the fires,” the principal added.
The principal said the students later woke up in the wee hours of Monday and set one dormitory ablaze bringing the total damage for the school at around Ksh3 million.
“Although we have sent all the students home until further notice, we appeal to them not to take the law into their own hands and instead learn to dialogue through the school management,” the Principal noted.
A similar occurrence happened at the school in 2020.
Following revelations from several pupils that their peers wanted to burn the school down, members of the school board of management conducted an unexpected meeting and decided to close the institution.
Hussein Wario, the head of the local police force, nor the deputy police commander have yet to comment on the incident as of the time of this writing.