A health workers’ union has demanded an immediate investigation into the deadly dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Academy, warning that Kenya’s schools are sitting on a time bomb of ignored safety failures.
The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU) called for an independent and transparent inquiry to establish whether the Gilgil, Nakuru County institution violated statutory housing, structural and electrical safety standards.
National Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer Brown Ashira Olaly described the incident as a dark and heartbreaking moment for the nation.
Anchoring its demands in the Constitution of Kenya and the Public Health Act, KEHPHPU called for the immediate nationwide deployment of Public Health Officers (PHOs) to all learning institutions.
The union argued that the tragedy exposed long-standing failures in structural enforcement and disaster preparedness that have gone unaddressed across the country’s schools.
The union emphasised that PHOs have a legal mandate under the Public Health Act to oversee safety measures including emergency exits, occupancy limits, ventilation, sanitation and fire preparedness.
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KEHPHPU said these officers must now be deployed to conduct mandatory health and safety audits and strengthen emergency response systems in all schools.
The union also demanded strict accountability, urging authorities to take disciplinary and criminal action against any individuals or institutions found to have violated safety regulations or contributed to negligence.
KEHPHPU further opposed what it termed the ongoing “clinicalisation” of school health functions, arguing that preventive programmes are being weakened by transferring them to clinical staff. The union insisted that critical operations including waste management, disease surveillance, and environmental sanitation must remain under the specialised coordination of PHOs.
The union stated that Kenya can no longer afford to treat the safety and well-being of learners as an afterthought, adding that strengthening preventive public health systems is now a national necessity.
KEHPHPU closed by affirming its readiness to work with government agencies to roll out nationwide school inspections, and called on the state to make school safety a binding national priority so that no learner ever again loses their life to preventable compliance failures.
By Benedict Aoya
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