A fresh wave of unrest has hit Maranda High School, pushing the institution to the brink of an indefinite shutdown.
On Monday, candidates staged a protest, broke dining hall plates, threw away food and refused to attend afternoon lessons barely a day after a suspected dormitory arson attack.
The candidates also wrote and circulated notes demanding to be sent home instead of returning to lessons.
In response, the school administration moved swiftly to send Form Four students home and is now reportedly considering sending Grade 10 students home by Tuesday morning, a move that would effectively shut down the institution indefinitely.
The latest unrest follows allegations that Form Three students set fire to the three-storey Owino “B” dormitory, which houses Form Four students, on Sunday evening. The blaze destroyed personal property of unknown value and caused widespread disruption across the school.
To prevent further confrontation, Form Three students were sent home on Monday morning. However, 12 of them were arrested while allegedly trying to flee the scene and spent the night at Bondo Police Station.
Bondo Sub-County Police Commandant Robert Aboki said detectives had recovered crucial CCTV footage from two petrol stations in Bondo town, which allegedly shows six of the detained students purchasing fuel believed to have been used in the attack.
“The footage captures six of the detained students purchasing the fuel used in the attack,” Aboki said.
Police said investigations indicate the arson targeted the three-storey Owino “B” dormitory, and that the group allegedly planned the attack on Saturday during a sports event. It is alleged that the students raised Sh2,500, sneaked out of the school compound and purchased eight litres of petrol.
They are further accused of smuggling the fuel back into the school through a fence before hiding a jerrican in a dustbin ahead of the attack, which was executed on Sunday evening shortly after tea break.
Investigators say six students who bought the fuel were joined by six accomplices. The group, allegedly wearing hoods and masks, is said to have lined dormitory corridors with mattresses and blankets, doused them with petrol, and set them ablaze before fleeing.
Police also reported that discarded masks and clothing were recovered from school toilets, where the suspects are believed to have hidden after the incident.
Although the fire was contained before it spread through the entire block, the school confirmed that personal belongings worth thousands of shillings belonging to Form Four and Grade Ten students were destroyed.
The 12 suspects are expected to be formally arraigned at the Bondo Law Courts on Tuesday on arson-related charges after a court granted police temporary custody to complete investigations.
In addition, investigators say tensions had been building between Form Three and Form Four students even before the incident, prompting urgent administrative action to avoid further confrontation on campus.
The situation has also been linked to broader concerns over school unrest, coming just days after five schools in Makueni County experienced arson attacks, leaving parents to shoulder costly repairs to damaged infrastructure.
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