Blood-stained blue polo T-shirt, swollen eye and a bandage on the left side of the forehead.
That is how Pius Gaichu Mugambi, a teacher at Oldonyiro Secondary School in Isiolo County, appeared in Isiolo town on Thursday morning following an attack the previous night within Oldonyiro town centre.
The teacher, who has been at the school for three years and six months now, said he was attacked by five men around 8.50pm while going home after he left a police canteen where he had gone to buy a packet of milk.
He claimed that one of the attackers was a student he recently had a disagreement with over a policy on one-student-one-plate that he, while on duty, insisted had to be strictly adhered to.
He alleged that young Samburu morans in the school recently threatened him over the unpopular policy prohibiting sharing of plates. The morans prefer eating from the same plate, away from the glare of other people, including their colleagues.
“I was leaving the canteen when the student, well known to me, attacked me and hit me with a club before other men in his company descended on me with blows. It was around 8.49pm,” Mr Mugambi told journalists in Isiolo town.
The commotion attracted the attention of police officers who rescued him and rushed him to Oldonyiro Dispensary where he was treated before he recorded a statement on the assault at the nearby police station.
New details over the incident have emerged after officials said that the teacher went to the police canteen around 9pm where he took alcohol and was attacked two-and-a-half hours later at Oldonyiro town centre.
It is not clear whether the teacher was at the canteen alone and if he left in company of someone else.
Police sources suspect the teacher was attacked by a gang that reportedly attacked two other men who have already recorded statements at the Oldonyiro station vide OB No 05/1/7/2021.
Assistant County Commissioner Barnabas Kimotok said the injured teacher was rescued by police officers on patrol. This information was collaborated by Isiolo Sub-County Police Commander George Kariuki.
“The incident happened past curfew hours. Our officers took the teacher to a dispensary and later helped him report the incident before leaving around 1am,” said Mr Kariuki.
Still to record statement
The administrator said the teacher did not show up at the station on Thursday to record a comprehensive statement as had been earlier advised.
A report by the school seen by the Nation indicated that the teacher showed up at his residence the following morning around 6am with a swollen eye and a bandaged face.
“He claimed to have been attacked by two people while coming from the police canteen at the trading centre around midnight, according to people who answered his distress call,” the statement dated July 1 and signed by the school’s principal, Mr Kiriinya, read.
The principal said the Mathematics and Physics teacher was rushed to Nanyuki for treatment and filling of a P3 form. He was accompanied by two other male teachers, Mr John Kariuki and Mr Douglas Kirimi, who were with him when he addressed journalists.
The statement by the school presents a likelihood that the teacher could have travelled to Isiolo town via the Nanyuki town route on Thursday morning and not on the material night (10pm) as he claimed. Further, curfew restrictions was a major impediment to traveling at night.
While officials admit the teacher had a disagreement with one of the students a few months ago, the learner reportedly wrote an apology letter after other teachers intervened.
The genesis of the students’ resistance started after the outbreak in Kenya of Covid-19 last year, resulting in prolonged closure of schools, which saw hundreds of Samburu boys get circumcised.
“We had, during the reopening, gotten reports that the morans were resisting eating in the presence of girls but did not receive any threatening reports,” the assistant county commissioner told the Nation .
Students at the school are said to have at one time prevented a teacher from attending a class and no action was taken.
The teacher lamented that he was being targeted for being a non-local and appealed to the Teachers Service Commission to transfer him to a safer area.
“I cannot go back there. I appeal to TSC to transfer me because my life is in danger,” Mr Mugambi appealed.
Samburu Council of Elders Isiolo branch chairperson Joyce Nairisiae said such attacks could prompt mass exodus of non-local teachers, affecting learning.
The elder warned parents against abdicating their roles, especially after their children undergo circumcision.
“Elders and parents should sit down with the morans and let them know that once they are in school, they are learners and should follow the teachers’ guidelines,” Ms Nairisiae said.
Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Isiolo branch officials, led by executive secretary Moses Kimwere, condemned the incident and asked police to expedite investigations so that the perpetrators are brought to book.
They decried increasing cases of students attacking non-local teachers in the county, saying three cases had been reported in the recent past in Leparua and Elsa secondary schools and that no action had been taken against the culprits.
The officials say they will not tolerate continued harassment of teachers, warning that they might be forced to withdraw services from unsafe schools if the government fails to contain the situation and compensate the victims.
“We are here to stand for the rights of teachers and Mr Mugambi’s incident is the fourth case. Teachers’ security and safety is paramount,” said Mr Kimwere while calling for swift action.
Isiolo County Director of Education Hussein Koriyow dismissed claims that the teacher was attacked for being a non-local, saying that ongoing investigations will help establish who were involved.
“We cannot at the time ascertain whether those who attacked him were students but ongoing investigations will reveal the criminals,” said Dr Koriyow.
Isiolo Sub-County Police Commander George Kariuki said investigations are underway to determine what transpired before the incident happened, and whether it could have been as a result of the teacher’s previous disagreement with one of the students.
Already, detectives are tracking the teacher’s mobile phone which was stolen during the attack.
“The teacher is yet to record comprehensive report over the incident to assist police in ongoing investigations,” Mr Kariuki said, adding that investigations will also help establish whether the alleged student attacker was among those who roughed up the teacher.
The public has been asked to volunteer information that could help in the arrest of the perpetrators.
