Litein: Litein High School students in Kericho, Sunday night, went on the rampage and set ablaze the school's Administration Block which houses finance and departmental offices and two laboratories and destroyed school property worth millions of shillings.
According to Kenya News Agency, the enraged students further destroyed all the classrooms, dormitories, the dining hall, conference cum entertainment hall, where they smashed window panes, fire extinguishers, computers, and books. Confirming the incident, Kericho County Director of Education, Mr. Julius Ngoneshi, said that the 1,400 students began rioting at 8pm, wreaking extensive damage and bringing down the old Administration Block by burning it to ashes together with the ICT learning centre.
Mr. Ngoneshi, speaking to the press today at the school, thanked the security personnel for their quick action in containing and preventing the students from invading the neighbouring Litein Girls' School. During the incident, the students also raided the teachers' quarters and looted property, which included electronic devices. They also smashed down the window panes of their teachers' houses. However, the students left the school bus christened 'Power House' untouched.
The school has since been closed indefinitely and students sent home until further notice. Mr. Ngoneshi said security officers and education officers held a meeting with the school Board of Management to assess the damage. The County Director said amongst the students' grievances included the demand for a change of management in the school. He said they could not immediately quantify the value of the destruction but added it was in millions and it would take long for the school to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.
'The Board will meet this afternoon to deliberate on a back-to-school formula, we are giving priority to form-fours who have one month to sit for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations and recommend how repairs of the section of the school where the students will have their studies and accommodation,' Mr. Ngoneshi said.
This was the second time this year the students have gone on strike and the third occurrence under the current Administration of Mr. Richard Sang, the School Principal. The students in their grievances pointed at high-handedness on the leadership of the Principal and called for his transfer from the Institution.
Problems started in the school after the former Principal Mr. Moses Ndeda, who was highly regarded by many as a transformative leader, where students took pride in his work and the lasting impact he had on the school. Performances in the school were impressive and large numbers of students joined university during his tenure. Among others who visited Litein High School included area Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Kibet Komingoi, local leaders, and parents.