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Why South Rift school heads are on edge over unrest
Structures destroyed by students at Litein Boys' High School in Kericho County in this photos taken on September 22, 2025.
More than 10 schools in the South Rift have been hit by a wave of violence and unprecedented property destruction estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of shillings in the past week.
With the schools closed, and pressure on the one’s still operational, parents are anxiously waiting for the institution’s administrations to tabulate the cost of the destruction, which is expected to be passed on to them.
Chebonei Girls’ and Kamungei secondary schools in Bomet County were closed on Thursday night following unrest by students.
It follows hot on the heels of Tengecha Boys’, Koiwa Boys, AIC Litein Girls’ and Kiptewit and Cheptenye Boys’, in Kericho and Bomet counties, whose gates were shut a day earlier.
Litein Boys' High school in Bureti constituency, Kericho County stands out as the worst hit with destruction of property and bizarre incidents by the students, with police reduced to bystanders.
Eight of the students have been arraigned in court and detained in police cells, following the burning of the school premises, theft of property and destruction of vital documents.
Kericho Principal Magistrate Fredrick Nyakundi heard that the eight students were found in possession of items stolen from the school, including laptops and other personal effects belonging to teachers.
The students, represented by lawyer Naima Chelangat, face several charges including arson, burglary and malicious damage to property.
Papers strewn at Litein Boys High School after students went on the rampage, in this photo taken on September 22, 2025.
Mr Richard Sang, the Principal of Litein Boys’ High School said the cost of the damage was being computed, and this will inform how the funds for reconstruction will be raised.
“Officers from the Ministry of Education, civil engineers, quantity surveyors and electrical engineers from the Public Works and Housing and security officers are undertaking evaluation of the properties destroyed,” he said on Wednesday.
“Parents and stakeholders should ignore the figures circulating on social media claiming to be money that parents would be fined by the school. The figures have not been arrived at. It will take some time.”
The school has also clarified that the students were not denied a chance to watch football as claimed; they watched finals of two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday night before going on the rampage.
It has also emerged that the security officers had been informed of the impending strike early in the week with the sub-county security team having visited the school on Friday to assess the situation.
Apart from the students destroying property, investigators are also looking into claims that outsiders took advantage of the chaos and darkness to loot school property.
The stolen properties include desktop computers, and sacks of maize, rice and beans, some of which have been recovered in Kericho town, and Kapsoit and Cheborge trading centres.
“Preliminary investigations show that the students were irked by the refusal by the administrations to engage with cartels who are involved in leakage of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams,” said an officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The classrooms, administration block and dormitories were reduced to mere shells in the aftermath of the chaos with police unable to take control of the situation for several hours.
Papers strewn at Litein Boys High School after students went on the rampage, in this photo taken on September 22, 2025.
Students broke into the stores and the kitchen, recorded themselves with mobile phones with faces covered as they feasted, before attempting to invade the nearby AIC Litein Girls High School.
The students set fire to the school structures and destroyed others using stones and crude weapons.
Students also broke into the bursar office, broke into a safe, stole money, burnt down documents, tampered with CCTV cameras, drove the school bus and used it to block the gate entrance, and cooked ugali and chapatis, which they ate, before they were kicked out of the compound.
Tattered documents—including uncollected KCSE certificates, receipt books, text books, examination papers among others—were scattered in the compound.
Former Roads Minister Franklin Bett said that part of the dining hall that has been destroyed was funded at a cost of Sh18 million under the Bureti National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) kitty during his tenure as area MP.
“We spent Sh18 million for the first phase of the dining hall while parents pooled resources to extend it. The figures for reconstruction are expected to be very high once the valuation is complete,” he said.
“We need an independent body to be set up to address this issue because the amount of damage done by the students is beyond comprehension.
“We need to remind the children that tomorrow they will be parents and will require learning institutions for their children. Parents need to do better than they have done in instilling discipline in their children.”
The parents, some of whom are struggling to educate their children, will likely have to pay for the reconstruction and renovations in the schools.
“That even before we complete the payments of school fees, we will in a few days be required to take our children back to school with the yet to be released cost of reconstruction, which we will shoulder in these hard economic times, is too much to mentally process,” said Mr Peter Keter, a parent.
“The government should get to the root cause of the chaos and address them once and for all with stakeholder engagement so we can all read from the same page on the issues.”
At Koiwa Boys’ High school, the estimated cost of reconstruction is Sh3 million, according to the Principal Isaac Seret. The school has 1,600 students. Parents have not been billed yet for the property destruction.
On Tuesday night, students at Tengecha Boys' High school pelted residents with stones as the villagers tried to prevent them from burning down the school. Bystanders captured the exchange on video, which was shared on various social media platforms.
Billowing smoke and fierce fire engulfed the school with the police reduced to bystanders in the incident.
Some of the students wore civilian clothing making it impossible to identify them as learners with many covering their heads and faces as they destroyed property.
Ms Mary Rotich, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) branch secretary, called for a multi-sectoral approach to the investigations of the root cause of the unrest with a view to finding a lasting solution. She said the unrest was heart-breaking.
“It is a wake-up call to all our parents that we need to tame our children, take a lead in disciplining them and not leave that responsibility to teachers. They should be taught how to protect property instead of destroying them” Ms Rotich said.
Mr Samuel Koros, a businessman in Kapkatet, said parents were reeling from the high cost of living and the government should shoulder the cost of reconstructing the schools.
“We are blaming the police for inaction. Even after they were informed by the school administration of the impending chaos, the officers deployed were hanging around the gate claiming to be waiting for instructions from their seniors to take action,” he said.
Mr Kennedy Cheriro, a parent, said the Ministry of Education should take full responsibility for the damage as the officers failed to investigate and act on past recommendations on similar incidents.
“To imagine that parents will shoulder the cost of repairs when they are from paying for similar destruction a few months earlier is troubling and it raises the question of how long this will be allowed to continue,” he said.
Mr John Rop, a former high school principal, said it was unfortunate that in two years, three strikes had been reported at the school yet no concrete action had been taken to permanently address the root cause.
