Makini school ordered to pay former students Sh600,000 for rights violation

 

The High Court in Nairobi has ordered a private school to pay the parents of two minors Sh600,000 as compensation for kicking them out over differences with their father.

Although Justice Lawrence Mugambi found that Makini School had followed the law as the contract was between it and the minors’ father, he ruled that the two children should not have suffered ridicule owing to the bad blood between the management and the parent.

He observed that there was evidence to show that the two kids codenamed RAB had suffered psychologically as they were not aware of what was transpiring.

He observed that they were ejected from the classroom and isolated from the rest.

“It is clear to me the treatment that the Respondents subjected the minors to was unwarranted and disrespectful and an affront to their dignity. Further as proved by the medical notes, it impacted their psychological well-being. I thus find that they violated the minors’ rights under Articles 28 and 29 (d) of the Constitution,” said Justice Mugambi.

The two minors through their mother had sued the school claiming they were removed from class and handed termination letters on July 7, 2023, by Headteacher Catherine Njuguna, who then ordered them to wait for their parents at the pickup shade.

The mother through lawyer Apollo Mboya claimed her expelled children are top students in their respective classes with no disciplinary issues, and were only expelled through the activities of their father who was the PTA chairman.

Mr Mboya further termed the expulsion as “precipitate, hasty, petty, malicious, capricious, draconian and discriminatory”, adding that it had caused both them and their parents “emotional distress and anguish.”

The petitioner claimed their trouble started after raising questions about the school’s regional managing director Horace Mpanza who they accused of carrying a firearm to the school, smoking in the presence of learners and erecting a smoking zone.

But Mr Mpanza stated the school’s relationship with the minor’s parents was purely contractual and it could be terminated by either party if any of them breached rules and regulations.

“The minor’s father began what evolved to become a pattern of antagonistic behaviour towards Makini Schools which was tantamount to harassment and intimidation and caused increasing strain on the contractual relationship,” said Mpanza.

He swore that while the school has exercised restraint while responding to his continuous false and malicious allegations, the father continued to malign and defame the school through various mediums which made it difficult to readmit his children.

He alleged the father’s antagonism escalated to the extent of defamation and character assassination and false allegations about the institution.

“It is upon this most recent escalation that the management of Makini Schools decided to terminate its contract with the parent, upon which the provision of a private school education to his children is contingent,” said Mpanza.

He added that the father was illegally in office as PTA chairman having served for three years and instead of using the position to help the school, he resorted to splitting the PTA and creating factions.

Mpanza stated that it was against the continued intimidation of teachers and staff by the children’s father that they decided to terminate the contract and expel his children.

While reacting to the judgment, the school said that it agreed with the judgment on the contract termination but added that it was considering an appeal on how it expelled the two.

“While we further acknowledge the court’s ruling as it relates to the process of termination, we respectfully disagree. The termination followed years-long attempts to address the situation taking into consideration the interests of all parties,” said the school adding, “We are therefore now considering whether to exercise our right to appeal on this singular issue, as it is our firm belief that the learners in question were at all times treated with respect to dignity.”