Principal, parents recall night of terror at Nakuru's Shiners Boys High School

The definition of violence in school in a layman’s language is when a teacher whips a student or when students fight for superiority.

However, the story was different for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam candidates at Shiners Boys High School, Nakuru on the night of November 9, when a student was stabbed to death and another one suffered a stab wound in the thigh.

The school Principal John Mwangi narrated the ordeal, saying they heard screams emanating from the school’s dormitory at around 8pm when the candidates were preparing to go for night preps.

According to Mwangi, the candidate, named Vincent Muchiri, had been stabbed in the lower abdomen and was in pain.

He said that first aid was also administered on another candidate who had also been stabbed in the right thigh.

“We reported the matter at Kiongoriria Police Station. The deceased was a bright student and it is painful to lose such a hardworking person,” he said.

Mwangi said other candidates who witnessed the murder narrated to them the horror scene created by four students who had returned to school after suspension.

He said the four suspects had been suspended two weeks earlier because of indiscipline cases, but owing to the directive by the Ministry of Education, they are allowed to sit exams.

At first, the school administration thought the fight was caused by serious disagreements, only to be informed that the four students were furious when they discovered that their personal effects had been tampered with while they were on suspension.

“They suspected that it was the deceased who had tampered with their items. A scuffle started and the candidate was stabbed. The main suspect then fled,” he said.

Initially, student’s father John Muchiri was unwilling to speak to the media.

He later opened up, saying it was painful to lose his son, particularly because it occurred while he was doing his final Form Four exams.

“Even though the suspected culprits are in custody, they are still doing their examinations. But my son is no more. Anything I say does not help because my son is dead,” he said.

Eunice Nyaboke, a mother of one of the students at the school, was in tears as she narrated to us a mobile phone conversation with her son.

She said her son called and informed her there was a problem at the school.

She said her son, who was crying, told her that students had fought and one had been stabbed in the stomach and was seriously injured.

“His voice was shaking and he wanted us to help him,” she said.

She said that since they were far from the school, they had no option but wait until morning.

Nyaboke said that although her son was safe, it was unfortunate that his colleague had died while another was injured.

“As a parent I am in pain. We work hard to educate our children because we want them to have a great future. It is so painful for a parent to receive a phone call and hear that their child is dead,” she said.

Following the incident, eight candidates, including the one who was stabbed in the thigh, have been arrested and detained.

The suspects will appear before a Naivasha court after the completion of their Mathematics and Kiswahili papers. Their case will be mentioned on November 25.

County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara confirmed that of the eight, the main suspect will be arrested and charged with murder.

He said five of the eight are in detention at Mbaruk Police Post, while the three are at Gilgil Police Station, where they will continue their exams under supervision.

“The suspects will remain in detention for 14 days, pending investigations,” said Kibaara.

Kibaara, however, said the police were yet to locate the murder weapon.

Shiners Boys High School has a history of unfortunate incidents. On June 3, 2016, the library and the administration block went up in smoke.

Then Principal Peter Ndirangu said major assets were lost alongside cash in his office, stationery in the library, computers, mobile phones and text books estimated to be worth over Sh30 million.

Ndirangu blamed the students saying that a week earlier, they had burned down a dormitory.

On Monday, Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang called for vigilance in schools following the incident.

Kipsang urged teachers and school administrators to improve on intelligence gathering and surveillance in schools.

“The teachers should work closely with student leaders to gather intelligence and information on possible threats and avert them,” said Kipsang.