A section of students of Friends Malava Boys have violently rioted, looting and destroying school property.
An incident that occurred on Sunday night, March 29, 2026, has left scores of students, especially prefects, nursing multiple serious injuries after they were attacked by fellow learners for reporting them for sneaking from school.
The incident has seen the school indefinitely send the learners home just a day before the official closing date, as tension between the two groups escalated, with non-prefect learners baying for the blood of the whistleblower student, dorm captain, and prefects who laid an ambush to have them apprehended upon their return from their escapade.
The night incident is said to have occurred at 20:30 hours when the wayward students sneaked out of the school through the fence, and were spotted by a fellow student, who reported them to the dorm captain, who in turn marshalled the fellow prefects to set up a dragnet to nab them.
Between 9pm-11pm, howling, shouting, doors banging, and glasses breaking could be heard from the school compound, as neighbours confirmed that all was not well at the extra county school.
They also confirmed hearing police sirens approaching the school after a while, to a commotion between the security officers and students, where scores of them were injured as they tried to evade the security details.
Speaking to the aggrieved learners, they narrated how they were accosted by the students working in solidarity with those who had sneaked and had identified the student who leaked the information to the prefects landing on him with blows and kicks and all sorts of weapons injuring him badly before the prefects came to his rescue only to be accosted with the same treatment as blows and kicks reigned the night and they had to run for their lives and seek refuge in the sick bay room.
Their efforts to stay safe in the bay were short-lived as the angry mob swung into action, smashing windows and trying to break through the steel door, to their disadvantage.
The continuing fracas drew the attention of the teachers and security personnel, who rushed to the scene to inquire what was going on, and after realising it was a very grave order, they called for assistance from the Kabras police officers, who zoomed in to quell the situation.
In a rage, the irked and supercharged students broke into the school bakery and canteen and made off with the confectionery and other sellables, including cash, sold for the day.
They also managed to fiddle with the power connection switches at the school, in what could be termed an attempt to raze the institution.
Efforts to get a clearer report from the senior principal, Moses Moyi, proved futile, as he kept the press waiting from 9:30 am -16:15 pm, taking the better part of the early hours holed up in an impromptu staff meeting before leaving the office in the presence of the Press waiting at the reception.
So far, the reported number of students who were identified as having sneaked was four, with a larger group also being sent home for being accomplices by attacking, injuring and destroying school property.
As the Press left the venue, a team comprising the county and subcounty directors of education arrived to be briefed on the matter.
The Principal who came to the school late last year has been on the radar following the burning down of the dormitory barely a month after taking over the school management and which despite the report being nmade public to the stakeholders despite the Press asking for it earlier but to no avail with the principal stating that it was a bugone issue, but with the yesterday event that could have been also very tragic had drastic measures not having been taken, has kept the parents and education stakeholders questioning his management skills and also fearing for the safety of their children while at the school.
READ ALSO: Dawn fire razes down Malava Boys high school dormitory, students left in cold
Reports from the school quarters allege that the institution has been operating without a clean and sufficient water supply, despite its large population, leaving learners’ sanitation and hygiene at the mercy of God.
Highly confidential reports from close sources within the school have pointed fingers at the principal for failing to work closely with all teaching and non-teaching staff and for operating only with selected teachers.
Despite the school having several water-harvesting tanks, a drilled water pump, and tap water, maintenance seems to be the biggest problem, leading to an acute shortage.
Already, murmurs of discontent over his leadership skills have begun to escape the lips of the community and parents as well, with calls for his transfer being echoed in kind.
Our second attempt to have his version in the late evening failed, as he told the Press that they had come on a bad day and should instead return the next day to get the brief.
By Wakhungu Andanje
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