Jomo Kenyatta Boys High School in Bahati Sub-County of Nakuru has been closed indefinitely after students went on the rampage and burnt down the administration block and 10 classrooms.
The offices of principal and deputy principal, staffroom, library, computer lab and classrooms were destroyed in the Sunday night incident.
Fire fighters from the Nakuru county government disaster management unit had a hectic time putting out the fire after arriving at the school, only to find the gates locked from the inside by the students.
Nakuru County Director of Education Victoria Mulili confirmed the incident and said officers from the Ministry and security agencies visited the school to assess the situation and investigate the cause of the unrest.
Mr Alex Njoroge, a parent who also lives near the school said they were alerted by screams at around 11 pm and rushed to the school to find that students had barricaded the road leading to the institution and locked the gates.
Police cleared the road and gained access to the school, allowing parents and fire fighters to put off the raging fire.
"We stayed at the school until 3 am when police officers had contained the situation. Students tried to burn the dormitory and the kitchen. We suspect the learners went on the riot to avoid sitting for exams that were due” Mr Njoroge said.
Mr Francis Mjumbe, a parent, said they saw reports on social media that the school had been burnt down, but when they tried to seek clarification through the parents' WhatsApp group, there was no response from the administration, forcing many parents to rush to the school.
Students claimed that money contributed by a politician for them to buy meat for them was only used for bread and soda, leading to the strike.
The school administration had allegedly barred them from holding a cultural week warning that those who would defy the directives were to face dire consequences.
Mr David Karimi, a resident of the area called on parents to instill discipline in their children so as to avoid cases of unrest in schools.
"We have failed as parents. We should not pamper our children. The administration has also failed because it should listen to the students. We should not be looking for solutions only after children have burnt down a school,” Mr Karimi said.
He said it was unfortunate that the parents will pay for the reconstruction of the structures and other damages at the school and that the form fours would be the most affected.
Former Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri called on the school administrations, parents, teachers and students to sit and establish the root causes of the unrest so as to address it in full.
At the same time, normal learning has resumed at Tenwek Boys’ High school following a fire incident that destroyed a dormitory block that was constructed using Ministry of Education funds 10 years ago.
Fire outbreak caused the destruction of property whose value had not been released with the Ministry Public Works expected to conduct a valuation of the building.
Students’ personal belongings including uniform, shoes, books, mattresses, blankets and bedsheets went up in smoke with 153 of the boys being displaced as a result of the shocking incident.
School Principal Mutali Chesebe told parents on Thursday that there were no casualties following the incident whose cause is under investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, and that normal learning had resumed.
Mr Chesebe said, were expected to sit for an examination that was due at the time the incident occurred. It was the first time the school was experiencing a case of fire as a result of a suspected arson case.
“Students are in the process of recovering from the shock following the incident and we are encouraged that there are five counsellors in the school right now available to assist the learners get through the tragedy,” Ms Chepkirui Kones, a leader and businesswoman said on behalf of the parents.
A dormitory that was destroyed by fire at Tenwek Boys' High School in Bomet County in this photo taken on July 9, 2026. No student was injured.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Speaking to journalists at the school, Ms Chepkirui said, “It is important for the parents and the teachers to listen to the issues the learners have because they are growing up in different circumstances from the ones we went through as parents, thus the need for a paradigm shift in addressing the challenges”
Pastor Philemon Langat, a parent, said the institution management had allayed fears of the risk that learners had been subjected to and that they were satisfied that it was only the personal belongings that were lost in the fire.
“It is encouraging that the learners have resumed normal studies even as security is beefed up in the school following the unfortunate fire outbreak. Our children require professional counselling and prayers to get over the incident, which we are happy to note is being addressed” Pastor Langat said.
Since the inception of the school before independence, there has not been a case of arson, not serious issues relating to strikes.
Students at the school were released to go home early shortly before the midterm holidays following tension that was said to have been building with other learning institutions faced with unrests.
The fire incident came in the backdrop of similar outbreaks in various learning institutions before the midterm holidays, with classrooms and dormitories being destroyed by students.
The worst incident was that of Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil on May 28, where 16 learners were killed in a case of arson in a dormitory.
A total of 79 learners were treated and discharged while eight were admitted and released after over a week in hospital.
Eight learners were arrested and charged before a law court in connection with the incident that shocked the country and led to unrest in other institutions in a clear case of peer pressure.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Migos Ogamba has said the government would not shoulder the burden of reconstructing schools that have been destroyed by learners in strikes as that would purely be the responsibility of parents.
