Edward Muhuni violated a High Court Judge Florence Muchemi’s order to reinstate 20 candidates who had been suspended due to assault. The students were expelled from Othaya High school in October 2021 after assaulting three classmates, one of whom was critically hurt.
(source: Twitter)
The pupils, who were candidates for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), raced to court, requesting that they be re-admitted to school. After being found guilty of contempt of court, the principal of Othaya Boys High School in Nyeri county faces a six-month sentence.
In her judgement, Muchemi stated that the aforementioned students submitted confirmation that the March 23 order had been served on the principal and the school’s Board of Management (BOM) through their lawyer Muhoho Gichimu. She pointed out that the school administration did not appeal the court’s decision, but instead failed to explain why it did not follow it.
Students assaulted their peers
The students were suspended from school in October 2021, according to several media outlets, after attacking three of their classmates, one of whom was gravely hurt. The principal said he tracked down the three from the school’s ablution block, where the incident occurred, and called the cops. Muhuni suspended them after they were prosecuted in court for bullying others. The students, who were Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, raced to court, requesting that they be re-admitted to school until their assault case was resolved.
Students become day scholars
The school administration, however, convened a conference with the suspended students and their parents following the re-admission court ruling, in which they were obliged to pay a sum of KSh 3,500. Instead, the students were notified that they would be day scholars and would be housed at a nearby school with an external cook and an officer to protect them during the conference. The KSh 3,500 was supposed to cover the cost of the outside cook’s services.