The buck stops with the former principals and the current principal of Alliance Girls High School. Period. For over two decades, a predator roamed freely within the school compound, preying on vulnerable, naive, gullible, and innocent girls – some of Kenya’s brightest daughters – while those in positions of ultimate authority stood by. Not one year. Not five. Over twenty years of whispered pain, ignored complaints, and institutional neglect. Let us call it what it is: abetting a heinous crime.
This is not just a failure in leadership – it is a betrayal of duty. Principals are not ceremonial figures. They are the custodians of safety, culture, discipline, and ethics within their institutions. They wield enormous authority and influence. It is they who set the tone. It is they who are answerable for what happens in the classrooms, dormitories, offices, and school compounds. And when abuse festers under their watch, unchecked and unchallenged, they must carry the blame.
It is inconceivable that multiple principals, through different regimes, could be unaware of such damning allegations. In a boarding school environment where teachers, matrons, prefects, and student leaders report daily on the welfare of learners, silence is not a result of ignorance – it is a choice. It is a carefully preserved cloak to cover shame, protect the school’s reputation, and avoid confrontation. But in doing so, they didn’t just maintain the school’s name—they protected a predator and endangered the very students entrusted to their care.
The principals only focused on academic grades. Hitting the KCSE targets became the only gospel. The singular obsession was ranking. They wanted the glory of flying teachers to Mombasa and Qatar to celebrate national mean scores. At the same time, the girls endured emotional, psychological and sexual pain perpetrated by a cruel teacher within the very space they were meant to feel safe in. As long as the results glittered, the rot underneath could be ignored. Girls were expected to keep smiling on prize-giving day, even as their spirits bled in silence.
Girls spoke. Girls cried. Girls hinted. These girls must have reported. But their pain was filed away, often literally, turned into cold reports that gathered dust or were shredded in fear of scrutiny. When vulnerable girls report a teacher’s inappropriate conduct and nothing happens, what message does it send? That their safety is less important than a staff member’s job. That their voice holds no weight. That survival in school means silence, not truth. And so, generation after generation, girls walked into that school, believing in its promise and prestige, only to be introduced to betrayal wrapped in silence.
It would be convenient to blame one rogue teacher, call it an isolated incident, and move on. But this is no isolated case. Abuse cannot thrive in isolation. It thrives in complicity. And complicity, in this case, was not just a passive presence – it was systemic. It came from those who handled reports with indifference. From those who warned staff not to speak too much. From those who, even now, speak in hushed tones to distance themselves from a mess they helped create.
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Principals are trusted with safety of school children. They have the authority to suspend. They have the ear of the Teachers Service Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Board of Management. They can call for disciplinary action. They can demand accountability. But when all these tools are left unused – when fear of scandal outweighs the need for justice – then they cease to be leaders. They become enablers.
Imagine the courage it takes for a young girl to report inappropriate conduct in a patriarchal, hierarchical setting like a public school. Now imagine how crushing it is when that courage is met with silence, victim-blaming, or threats. These girls were not only failed by the predator. They were failed by the system. And at the top of that system sat principals who chose the easy path. That is why they must not be shielded. They must be held to account – not just for what they did, but for what they failed to do.
Leadership without moral courage is dangerous. In schools, it can be fatal. For Alliance Girls High School, long celebrated as a haven of academic excellence, this is a moment of reckoning. The trust has been broken. The glory tarnished. Not because of poor exam results, but because adults in charge forgot their first duty: to protect the child.
This culture of protecting institutions at the expense of individuals is not unique to Alliance. It permeates many Kenyan schools. But this case is a loud and painful reminder that the silence of leadership is often the loudest violence. If nothing changes – if heads don’t roll, if structures aren’t overhauled, if student safety is not made paramount – then we will have failed not just these girls, but generations to come.
Principals must understand that prestige means nothing if students are not safe. That mean scores are meaningless if children are crying in silence. That discipline must begin with leadership. And that when they look away from evil, they become part of it. That the much hyped mantra of 100% transition to the university should justify their failure to protect the girls.
There can be no healing without accountability. And there can be no accountability without naming those who had the power to stop this and didn’t. The former principals. The current principal. The senior teachers who knew and kept quiet. The boards that received reports and filed them away. They all failed. And now they must answer – not only to the public but to the shattered trust of every girl who once believed Alliance was a sanctuary.
By Ashford Gikunda
Ashford Gikunda teaches English and Literature in Gatundu North Sub County and serves as Dean of Students.
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