A student in Nyandarua has accused her schoolmates of poisoning her for informing the principal of a planned strike. Mary Mwangi, a form three student at Tumaini secondary school in Ol Kalou, claimed her schoolmates executed the heinous act on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old said her schoolmates, backed by a teacher, had threatened her on ground she exposed the strike plot.
“My mates said they must revenge. The teacher spoke of ‘people who have become the principal’s spies.” The student said she was afraid to go for tea break and lunch on Wednesday after the accusations were levied against her.
“Later, I asked a friend for a cup of tea since I was hungry. I did not take it because I didn’t have the appetite at the time,” she narrated. “I left the cup at the window seal and went for Christian Union prayers. When we came back at around 4 pm, hunger had gotten the better part of me so I decided to take the tea. I just took one sip and felt a burning sensation in the throat.”
Mwangi said that she decided to keep the tea as evidence but since the principal and the deputy were not in, she decided to go with it at home to show her mother.
“When I got home, my stomach started groaning and it felt acidic with a burning sensation,” the student explained. Her mother, Penninah Muthoni, said she’s saddened by what happened to her daughter.
“It’s very painful. Playing with the life of someone’s child is heart-wrenching. I want justice. Action should be taken against the students involved because their identities are known,” Muthoni said.
Principal Joseph Mathenge said he could not comment on the poisoning issue on the phone.
Samuel Mwaura, J.M Memorial Hospital administrator, said the girl was treated of poisoning but said only government chemist can establish what poison was used.
Another School Fire
Mazeras Boys’ secondary school in Kwale has been closed for a week after a dormitory was burnt at dawn on Friday. At the neighbouring Mazeras Primary School, a staffroom was torched on Thursday night. Teachers’ books and furniture were reduced to ashes.
Kwale county commissioner Karuku Ngumo said the dorm fire was put out before causing severe damages. No student was injured.
Ngumo said they received a message that the dorm christened Twiga, which housed 57 students, had been was partly destroyed by the 4am firm. He spoke to journalists on Friday. “The chairman of the board of management of Mazeras Boys, Samuel Mng’ona, reported that a dorm was burnt. Students’ mattresses, boxes and beds were destroyed,” he said.
The commissioner said cause of the fires is unknown, and police are investigating. Ngumo appealed to students, teachers, parents, leaders and the government to ensure the madness of burning schools does not spread in Kwale.
“The community sacrificed a lot to build the schools by ‘harambee’. Burning schools is killing development,” he said.
Kasemeni location sub-chief William Kamanza told a local newspaper on Friday guards at the primary school helped contain the fire.
The incident is the latest in a series of many others where arsonists have destroyed dormitories in over 47 schools countrywide.
A stranger Attacks a teacher with Acid in Meru
A female teacher and a pupil of Muragara Primary School are nursing injuries in a Chuka hospital following an acid attack on Friday.
Maara OCPD Johnston Kabusia confirmed the incident, saying pupils who witnessed the attack have recorded statements at the Chogoria Police Station.
According to witnesses, the attack was carried out by a man and the pupil may have been collateral damage. The two have been hospitalised at the Chuka County Referral Hospital.