When last year I pushed for the appointment of Branton as school head boy, it was purely because he was qualified, my being school headmaster notwithstanding. While a few teachers criticised the appointment because of him being my son – even though he is not – no question was raised about his suitability.
“We have to create a school, and therefore a nation – where it doesn’t matter who your father is, where it matters little whomever you know or do not know, but that you can take up appointments purely based on merit and merit alone,” I has said at the time, in defense of Branton.
I had, at the time, got support from Lena, Sella, and Alex, who clearly said that Branton was qualified.
Mrs Atika’s nephew had also been proposed as a prefect. As usual, Kuya, Saphire and Nzomo opposed this.
“If you do not want Branton, give us an alternative name, give us someone who is more disciplined and can command the respect of the rest, and can communicate better than Branton.”
“We know, but that is not the question. We have asked you to give us an alternative name,” answered Lena, her bad hair in tow. “In any case, every saint had a past, and every sinner has a future.”
“Is it not funny that a teacher who had been interdicted twice before is complaining about us making a prefect a student who has been suspended before?” wondered Mrs Atika, without mentioning names.
She had hit a raw nerve, as Saphire came out guns blazing.
“Who do you have in mind? Me?” asked Saphire. “Madam you touched a wrong number. You cannot compare the two cases; we all know Dre pushed for my interdiction to stop me from becoming HM!”
Mrs Atika, too, seemed to be ready for a fight.
“The circumstances of the interdiction do not matter; all I am saying is that you were interdicted twice. It is on record…”
“And reinstated twice! If I had done anything wrong, I would not have been reinstated.”
“Exactly my point, even Branton was readmitted,” said Lena, her bad hair in tow.
In the end, Branton continued to serve as head boy, not because we agreed on him, but because we disagreed on who else.
With Fiolina having returned to Mwisho wa Lami earlier in the year, I have had little problems with the boy, as the things we used to quarrel over no longer arise.
But something strange started happening in the last few months. Following the underserved appointment and confirmation of Kuya as deputy HM, I started seeing some behaviour in Branton that was not only unacceptable but also abhorrent.
It all started when Kuya, a day after signing the letter, called for meeting with all the prefects. No other teacher attended the meeting.
I do not know what he did to the prefects, but after that I started noticing Branton, and the entire prefect body, starting to lean towards Kuya, and not me; I who had worked so hard to have them appointed.
This leaning towards Kuya manifested itself in several ways. The first one was in daily school duties. Despite the fact that we had, over time, formulated and clear daily routines for the school, together with prefects, Kuya changed this without consulting anyone. And Branton happily implemented that.
Previously, we used to clean the school every morning, but under Kuya’s undeserving leadership, school clean-up started being done in the evenings.
“Most students are alert during morning hours, not evening. We need to have cleaning in the evening so that come the next morning, they can focus on studies,” Kuya would later inform the staffroom, after teachers complained.
“You have no idea what you are talking about, the school needs to be cleaned every morning as without that, they are dusty and stuffy,” said Mrs Atika.
“There is a reason why we clean our houses in the morning and not evenings. Ask us, we know better.” Sella and Madam Anita supported her.
“I hear you, but this is a school, not a home,” said Kuya. “Studies come first, not necessarily cleanliness.”
“True but you can’t focus in a dirty, stuffy environment,” said Sella.
“I am sorry, teachers, I was not consulting you on what needs to be done,” said Kuya, “I am informing you on what we have decided to implement.”
After that, teachers started complaining that whenever they were on duty, the prefects, led by the head boy Branton, were ignoring their instructions, and following the deputy’s.
“It defeats the purpose of being on duty,” said Mrs Atika, when she was on duty. “You are toothless, as you can’t give any instructions.”
“There were no instructions I gave to the students that were followed, as the head boy and prefects only listen to the deputy,” she said.
“I do not understand how you are on duty for one week, but you want to change how everything is done,” said Kuya. “You are on duty to maintain the smooth running of the school, not to come with your own routines.”
Mid last month, I noticed Branton had a new pair of uniform. When I asked him, he said he had been bought by Kuya. I do not understand in whose capacity Kuya bought Branton new uniforms; but when I asked him, he said he was embarrassed seeing the head boy in torn uniform.
A day after schools closed, Branton left early and said he was going to school. I would later learn that Kuya had invited all prefects for a feast of soda and bread, apparently to thank them for supporting him during his reign as deputy.
He had not informed me of the event nor had Branton sought permission. I gathered he bragged that while I had the teachers, he had the prefects – the real engines of a school. He promised them more bashes next year if they stuck with him.
Branton did not return home that day. He was dropped by Kuya the next day, having spent the night at Kuya’s home. As soon as Kuya left, I gave the boy a thorough beating and dispatched him to his mother Catherina in Kakamega.
