Nineteen students of Marakwet Boys High in Elgeyo Marakwet County have been arrested in connection with the burning of a dormitory. Authorities said two other students are also being sought in connection with assault of two teachers at the institution.
Marakwet West sub-county Director of Education Evans Onyancha said that the students went on the rampage on Thursday night and set a dormitory on fire.
Mr Onyancha said trouble at the school started on Wednesday when Form Four students turned rowdy demanding to be allowed to use mobile phones in school ahead of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE) set to start on November 2. The official said the rioting candidates assaulted two teachers then stormed out of the school. “All the 209 candidates left without permission from the school principal. Two Fourth Formers are suspected to be behind the assault and are being sought by the police,” Onyancha said. According to Onyancha, the candidates were planning to use the mobile phones to cheat during the national examinations.
Other students from Form One to Three went on the rampage on Thursday night in what the sub-county director termed as ‘standing in solidarity with the Form Fours.’ “They burnt one of their dormitories,” Onyancha said, adding that the students are still in school as investigations continue. He added: “Police were immediately called in and arrested 19 students whose names were provided by fellow students. The suspects are spending the weekend in Kapsowar Police Station and will be arraigned in court on Monday.”
Onyancha said the two Form Four students may be forced to sit their KCSE exams outside the school if they are found to have assaulted the teachers. He said security agencies have been asked to prevent sale of alcohol near the school. One dormitory was torched in the same institution in September last year after drunken students demanded to be allowed to go out of the school compound without permission.
Meanwhile, Form Two and Form Three students at Chebai Secondary School near Kapcherop town in Marakwet West were sent home on Thursday after vandalising window panes of the school’s staffroom. “We have established that the students were drunk and were also demanding to be allowed to own mobile phones,” Onyancha said.