David Kinyua and his wife Mary Wanjeri have been revealed as the owners of the ill-fated Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni Constituency in Nyeri County, where 21 pupils died in a night fire last week.
Mr Kinyua is said to have started the school about 15 years ago, setting in motion the establishment of an institution that would win the hearts of many parents owing to its performance.
Before 2017, very little was known about Hillside Endarasha Academy, a private mixed primary school.
The school located in Endarasha village in Kieni West Constituency, first rose to fame the year after producing the top KCPE candidate in Nyeri County in 2017.
In the same year, more than nine candidates scored 400 marks.
This was probably the reason as to why most parents from all over Central region flocked the school hoping to get a slot for their children.
“All my three children studied in this school and have joined prestigious high schools and universities. The school really gave them a strong foundation,” said Edna Mwangi, a parent to a Grade Eight girl at the school.
Helping police with investigations
And on Tuesday, the police said that Mr Kinyua was already involved in the police investigations.
Although police have not confirmed that Mr Kinyua has recorded statements with the police, director of homicide investigations Martin Nyuguto said he was collaborating with the police.
A senior Teachers Service Commission (TSC) official in the area confirmed Mr Kinyua as the owner of the school.
This, as Kenya Power Tuesday allayed fears that the deadly fire might have been caused by an electrical malfunction.
DCI Homicide Director Martin Nyuguto (left) speaks with David Kinyua the Director of Hillside Endarasha Academy at the school on September 10, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
The utility company said: “Based on the findings of the preliminary analysis of our protection system, from the meter box to the substation where the medium voltage line serving the school emanates from, we have ascertained there was no link between the cause of the fire and any fault on our network as alleged in sections of media reports.”
Kenya Power went on to say that everything, in its assessment, was in order at the time of the incident.
“The line supplying the school is a low voltage line from Mweiga sub-station. At the time when the fire incident occurred, supply was stable on this line with no reported incidences. All Kenya Power installations including the meter, supply cable, earthings, low voltage and high tension fuses, and the transformer were intact,” the utility firm said.
One of the community responders at the fire that night told Nation that Mr Kinyua was among some of the first people at the scene that night.
“He appeared so devastated, saying that he was worried about how he would account for the death of these pupils,” one resident of the area said.
Another resident allied to the family told Nation that since the fire incident, his wife, Ms Njeri, has not been herself, devastated by the deaths.
On Sunday, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro led a group of politicians had attended an interdenominational prayer service for the fire victims, into a fundraising exercise.
The MP contributed Sh500,000 for the restoration of the school while Kieni MP Njoroge Wainaina asked the CDF office to assist in the reconstruction of the dormitory.
The government has since revealed that 164 children were sleeping in the dormitory, raising concerns over whether rules were followed in accommodating the huge number of learners in the dormitory.
Some parents we spoke to Nation.Africa said when they took their children there at the time of enrollment, they were concerned about their children’s safety.
A multi-agency team of investigators at Hillside Endarasha Academy where a dormitory fire claimed the lives of 21 pupils.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
John Mugo, who said he had gone to check on his sister’s son, expressed concern over the state of the dormitory saying pupils were crowded.
“When my sister brought her son to this school she told me that she was worried about the dormitory, saying they were squeezed,” he added.
Residents have described the school owner as a man who has been committed to uplifting the standards of education in the area.
Some of the residents empathised with Mr Kinyua, saying they will not abandon him in his time of need.
“He set up this school over 15 years ago and he has always been an understanding man. If a parent could not raise school fees he would ask them to pay when they had the money,” said Mary Muthoni.
The issue of Junior Secondary School (JSS) also surfaced, with parents saying they had received complaints of boys who had been circumcised and had been made to stay in the same dormitory as those who had not been initiated.
“Investigators should also find out if the bigger boys were unhappy, and whether that had anything to do with the fire,” said a parent who requested anonymity.
Already, Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga has ordered an inspection of all schools in the county.
Mr John Mwangi, a parent to a Grade 8 pupil who is still missing, said: “He (the school director) is more affected than us considering that 21 boys have died in his hands.”
Asked whether parents were comfortable with 164 of their children being housed in one dormitory, Mr Mwangi said the issue of congestion is not unique to the school.
“There are schools with dormitories accommodating the same number or even higher. Our school is not an isolated case,” he said.
He added that the high number of pupils was also as a result of the government’s 100 per cent transition yet no infrastructure was added to the existing ones.
