The Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency, Nabii Nabwera, has asked the relevant authorities to take action against the transferred Sacred Mukumu Girls’ School principal, Fridah Ndolo, for what he calls negligence that led to the deaths of three students and one teacher.
Ms. Ndolo was transferred after the school was closed following a disease outbreak that led to deaths and hundreds of students being hospitalized after they consumed contaminated food and water.
Nabwera, speaking during an annual general meeting at St. Cecilia Girls in his constituency, said the principal, together with the Board of Management, should be investigated and action taken against them.
“We have had a challenge at Mukumu Girls High School. As a leader from Kakamega County who has many students from my constituency schooling there, I want to tell the Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu and the Teachers Service Commission CEO Nancy Macharia that the principal is incompetent and should be sacked.”
“Taking disciplinary action alone against her is not enough. There must be a plan to prosecute her. We cannot afford to lose more than four students and a teacher and still allow her to be a principal elsewhere,” the first-time lawmaker said as quoted by West FM.
Nabwera, who is a member of the education committee in the National Assembly, argued that Ms. Ndolo displayed incompetence by handling the situation lightly after she insisted the affected students be treated in the less-equipped school dispensary.
“In fact, I want to put it very clearly. Madam Ndolo was negligent. She is incompetent and must be charged in a court of law for causing the deaths of students and their teacher. It is not possible that students were sick for two weeks, and instead of closing the school or seeking help elsewhere, she insisted that they be treated at the school’s dispensary,” said Nabii.
The MP told students and teachers that their visit to the school revealed that learners were exposed to unhygienic conditions because the kitchen was very dirty.
“It is not satisfactory that the issue is taken for granted. I want to reiterate that both the principal and the Board of Management caused the deaths of the students and the teacher due to their incompetence and should be charged in court,” he said.
“Transferring the principal and disbanding the Board of Management is not enough. They should be sued for incompetence for not letting the students seek medical care elsewhere on time, hence causing their deaths.”
Sam Oduor is the editor-in-chief at the Western Kenya Times who leverages the power of the Internet in telling stories that shape opinions.