Bullying was banned in Kenya in 2003, but you would be surprised to hear that students are still going through it silently. Parents often, but not always, believe that the welfare, protection, and safety are ensured as they take their children to the public boarding schools. Never do they dream of receiving calls to go pick their molested children from schools. However, horrific stories of students being assaulted brutally by other students have severally hit the public domain since time immemorial. In this article, the writer focuses on Kenyan secondary schools with the worst bullying histories ever:
Nairobi School
Are you an alumnus of the Nairobi School? You probably remember what you or other learners went through in the hands of some prefects. The school has been in the public domain as one of the worst in matters of bullying. In July 2019, a Facebook user, Ndungu Nyoro, enlightened the public on the plight of learners at the school.
A 15-year-old form two student allegedly underwent the brutality of prefects, an experience that saw him suffer from what was described by the medics as Hydrocephalus. It is the condition in which excess fluids are built up in the brain, leading to the increased size of the ventricles and puts pressure on the brain.
In short, the parents of the victim reported that their son had lost his memory. The boy could not remember anything, not even his siblings.
Alliance High School
The situation at Alliance is not far from that of Nairobi School. Here, being caught in a mistake by the principal was much safer than being got by a prefect. The learners feared officials more than the teachers.
In March 2017, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), gave a damning report of lethal bullying at Alliance High School. In that report, the victims recalled the painstaking experiences they had in the hands of the prefects and senior students. They were ordered to lie on graves, hug light bulbs, and crawl on wet grass, among other traumatizing rituals, as part of an initiation rite.
Nyabondo Boys Secondary School
If you thought Nairobi and Alliance schools are worse, then wait, Nyabondo Boys is also here. Bullying has not stopped in our schools if you thought so.
In May 2019, a student from the school allegedly lost one eye in a case of bullying. The victim was physically abused by a senior student, forcing him to go home to seek medication.
According to the reports, the doctors found that the eye was damaged beyond repair.
Loreto Girls
At Loreto, things are a little different. Here, sexual harassment was rampant. You're wondering how it happened in a girls-only school? Wait, have you ever heard of lesbianism? Loreto Girls was the epicenter of its perpetrators!
In March 2014, on a report done by Citizen TV, a lady narrated the experience she had during her first night at the school. She revealed how three-gang lesbians sexually assaulted her.
The lady, during the interview, said that she was asleep in her bed when she felt a hand gag her mouth. She was then ordered to climb down, and she obeyed in fear. It was then that the three girls started touching her all over her body and telling her how beautiful she was. One even licked her private parts.
One woman also narrated how her late sister went through such experience in the same school, which caused the sister’s death.
Mang’u High School
Another one is here, Mang’u. In this school, the story revolves around the superiority of the
school prefects. Hehehe! It seems most of the prefects in Kenyan secondary schools emulate the behaviors of the rogue police officers we see around! Right?
In July 2019, when the Nairobi School was on the spot, a heated debate emerged on different social media platforms. Kenyans recalled the horror they underwent through the hands of school prefects.
A tweep, @Joseykariuki048, remembered his days back in Mang’;u High. He narrated how the prefects had so much power and used to terrorize students. In his tweet, he stated that he was once whipped by more than four prefects while doing press-ups for having a sweaty shirt.
Maseno School
If you talk of high schools with the worst bullying histories, then Maseno School is not an
exception. Even though it’s one of the country’s oldest and best-performing national secondary schools, bullying was still a norm at Maseno School.
In April 2017, Maseno School was on the public domain when cases of sodomy were reported. Several students agreed that they knew about the sexual molestation that was going on in the school. Some learners reported that the prefects were high-handed and harsh. They beat other students with belts and punished them after the night preps at 10.50 pm.
The bullying cases compelled the TSC to send on compulsory leave, the then long-serving
Principal, Mr. Otula Paul.
Lenana School
If you thought Lenana School was safe, then you are very wrong. At this school, prefects and senior students had allocated themselves butlers who ran personal errands and chores for them.
In most cases, prefects top in the list of bullies. In February 2017, a form one student at Lenana School was beaten up by prefects and senior students. The victim suffered severe injuries in his private parts, forcing him to be hospitalized for days.
By Tonny Nyanchwa
