The wave of arson attacks in Kenyan secondary schools has reached alarming levels. From the deadly fire at Utumishi Girls Academy to national schools such as Nyambaria and Kakamega, and even smaller institutions like Nyakoiba and Orogare Secondary School in Bobasi Constituency, no school appears safe.
Dormitories are going up in flames, lives are being lost, and learning is being disrupted. Parents have complained bitterly, emergency meetings have been convened, politicians have spoken at funerals and harambee gatherings, and the church has offered prayers and issued statements. Yet the fires continue, and the cycle of grief repeats itself.
Frustration with existing interventions
The frustration is understandable. Modern disciplinary measures, counselling sessions, and police investigations often end without clear answers.
Suspects are rarely identified, and when they are, the legal process can be slow and sometimes inconclusive. Meanwhile, students remain traumatized, parents live in fear, and communities gradually lose faith in systems designed to protect their children.
It is within this context that many elders in Kisii County are asking a difficult question: What did our forefathers do when arson and mysterious destruction threatened the community?
The Abagusii approach to arson
Among the Abagusii, arson and the burning of houses were treated as crimes against the entire community, not merely the individual owner.
Elders believed that such acts invited curses upon the whole clan if left unresolved. One of the traditional methods used in settling suspected arson cases involved amaera—a solution prepared from the remaining charcoal and ashes of the burnt house.
The suspect would be required to drink the solution in the presence of elders and members of the community. The belief was that a guilty person would gradually waste away and die, while an innocent person would remain unharmed.
The power of deterrence
Harsh as it sounds by modern standards, the practice served an important purpose.
It created a powerful psychological deterrent. People knew that if a house was burnt, the entire village would be assembled, suspects identified, and the amaera process administered.
The fear of facing such public scrutiny discouraged many from engaging in destructive acts. Justice was swift, communal, and closely tied to the moral order of society.
It was not simply about punishment. It was also about restoring balance and sending a strong warning to potential offenders.
Lessons for modern schools
Applying this logic to schools today, some elders argue that the absence of visible consequences emboldens students to plan and execute acts of arson.
When a dormitory burns, investigations drag on, a few students are suspended, and eventually life returns to normal. There is often little sense of communal accountability.
Some propose that whenever a school is burnt, all students from the affected dormitory or stream should be assembled, informed of the seriousness of the offence, and subjected to a symbolic process that mirrors the communal accountability embedded in the amaera tradition.
The intention would not be to revive harmful practices, but rather to restore a sense of collective responsibility and make learners understand that arson is not a prank but an act that endangers lives and brings shame to the entire community.
This does not mean abandoning modern law or replacing the role of police officers, investigators, and courts.
Rather, it is a call to revive cultural tools that once helped communities maintain internal discipline before every problem was handed over to distant institutions.
The church can provide moral guidance. Government can provide security and investigations. Cultural institutions can help restore the fear of communal shame and accountability that many believe has been weakened in modern society.
Elders call for a new conversation
According to retired Principal Harrison Moronya, 80, a key member of the Abagusii Council of Elders and Development, and former Kisii Director of Culture, Sports, Children and Gender Nyambane Obino, parents, teachers, and leaders must acknowledge that current interventions have not fully addressed the problem.
They argue that if society continues to rely solely on statements, meetings, and investigations after every fire, the cycle may persist.
The Abagusii approach, they say, was effective in its time because it connected wrongdoing with immediate and visible consequences.
Today, they believe that link can be restored through cultural dialogue, stronger student leadership structures rooted in traditional values, and public forums that reinforce the gravity of arson.
A moral crisis
Arson in schools is not merely a security challenge.
It is also a moral, social, and cultural crisis that demands deeper reflection.
Unless society is willing to draw lessons from both modern systems and traditional wisdom, the country may continue to witness school fires while searching for solutions.
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The challenge before Kenya is not whether to return to the past, but how to recover the values of responsibility, accountability, and community ownership that once helped prevent such destructive acts.
By Enock Okongó
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