Nancie Schildgen
Kakamega High School has been closed after a fire ignited in the Grade 10 dormitory amid student unrest The principal has urged parents to collect their sons from school starting June 6 at 6:00 am Fire trucks responded to the blaze, with images showing intense flames at the dormitory Kakamega High School has joined the long list of schools that have been closed following a fire that broke out at a dormitory in the institution last night, Friday, June 5.
Kakamega School administration block and dorm on fire Photo: Presenter Olive Keverenge
Source: Facebook According to reports, the Grade 10 dormitory at the school was set ablaze following students’ unrest at the institution.
As such, the Chief Principal has sent a message to all parents urging them to pick up their sons from the school starting at 6:00 am on Saturday, June 6.
“Dear parent/Guardian, you are required to pick your son from school tomorrow, 6th June 2026, from 6:00 am. Thank you. Dr Elphas A.Luvaso- Chief Principal,” the message stated.
Why has Kakamega school been closed? Images from the scene showed fire trucks responding to the fire that was billowing from one of the dormitories.
The fire reportedly ignited on Friday evening at around 7:30 pm while students were attending prep classes.
The cause of the fire has not been established, neither has the cause of the students’ unrest.
Firefighters were able to salvage some property from the affected dormitory, and no injuries were reported as students were in class when the fire erupted.
The closure adds to a series of school fires that have happened in the past few days, since the deadly Utumishi Girls’ Academy fire that left 16 dead on May 28.
Which high schools have been closed so far? Since then, more schools, including academic giants like Alliance High School, Loreto Girls’ Limuru, and Lenana School, have joined in the craze, leaving most of them indefinitely closed just weeks before the second term half-term break.
However, no other casualties have been reported since Utumishi Academy.
This is because most of the other fires have allegedly been set when no students were in the dormitories, reducing the risk of injuries.
At Alliance High School, for instance, the suspects, 11 students, set a mattress store on fire, leading to the destruction of about 200 mattresses.
The 11 have since been arrested after they were identified through CCTV footage, just as it unfolded at the Utumishi Academy fire.
In other schools like Lenana School, Loreto Girls’ Limuru, and Moi Forces Academy, Lanet, the school administration did not wait for the fires and sent the students home once unrest started.
The students have revealed various reasons for the unrest, with the most recurring one being changes in the examination calendar.
With most Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) mock examinations being administered in the second term, tensions often boil over, leading to similar tragedies.
Over the years, Kenyan high schools have been affected by arson or accidental fires, leading to the deaths of hundreds of students.
Kakamega School dorm on fire. Photo: Kenya Schools’ Sports Arena
Source: Facebook Which are the worst arson attacks in Kenyan high schools? The worst of these incidents happened in 2001 at the Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County, when a deliberately ignited arson attack in a dormitory claimed the lives of 67 boys.
Other tragedies emanating from arson include the St. Kizito Secondary School tragedy, where 19 female students died during a violent riot and arson attack initiated by male students in 1991.
In 1998, at Bombolulu Girls Secondary School in Kilifi County, 26 female students died in a tragic dormitory fire suspected to be an attack.
More recently, a fire at Moi Girls High School in Nairobi led to the deaths of 10 girls after a student set a dorm on fire in 2017.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Source: Tuko.co.ke | Read the Full Story…
