SAME FOREST, DIFFERENT MONKEYS

Makueni Boys’ High School aka ‘Mitchez’ or ‘Mak B’ had always appeared to be a great school, churning out many A’s and being an epitome of discipline. In fact, other regional schools used to visit us for bench marking. 

Students at the School's Assembly Point   Photo Courtesy: MKBH Facebook

NO ONE SAW IT COMING

On 23^rd September 2007, at about 6pm (It was a Saturday, barely a month to KCSE), a fellow Form Four whom I’m forever grateful to approached me and asked me quietly “Do you believe that there can be a strike in this school?”. I almost went like, are you crazy? No one would contemplate such a thing, I thought. Besides, the admin would have got wind of it a long time ago. So I said ‘NO’. I was WRONG, the guy had intel! Still, he told me be ready for anything. 

  

Makueni Boys' School Assembly Point/Staff Room   Photo Courtesy: MKBH Facebook

THE SIGNS HAD BEEN THERE ALL ALONG

That week, all bulbs in the Form 2 & 3 classes had mysteriously gone missing, no one raised an eyebrow. Not just that, pins had been removed from all FIRE EXTINGUISHERS in the school.

  

LESSON #1 School administrators should never take anything for granted.

Since the perpetrators could not gain access into Form 4 classes, they disconnected the power. They did it so well that technicians couldn’t trace where the problem was (I hope those guys are engineers now or something of the sort). Left with no choice, teachers took some students to the Assembly Hall, and others to the Laboratories and Dining Hall. They played right into the trap!

AND THEN IT HAPPENED! 

At around 8pm, smoke and fire engulfed Malinda dormitory, the furthest on the slope. By the time teachers were noticing, it was already too late. Then came the explosions (Remember the stolen bulbs? They were now being hurled into the windows, the impact producing loud explosions).

The Deputy Principal nicknamed ‘Mothos’ summoned everybody for a hurried roll call, hoping to catch the criminals. But surprisingly, everybody was in.

INCIDENT WAS DOWNPLAYED 

The next day, the Press and parents were all over the place. The Principal told them it was a small ‘electrical fault’ which would be sorted. New mattresses and other stuff were quickly purchased to keep students in school.

LESSON #2 If students want to go home, let them go. This may seem simplistic, but a school administration that appears to downplay the storm brewing inside may just shoot itself in the foot. Like the recent case of Malindi High. What would it cost a Minister to just close down schools? Or a Principal to tell students to go home? Ego, of course. But that could prevent damage to property, and God forbid, even loss of lives.

The School Logo   Courtesy: MKBH Facebook

As you can already predict, on the second day, all hell broke loose. Students went on the rampage, destroying window panes, and whatever could be broken into. They even broke into the staffroom, wrote nasty things on the board. I’m reliably informed that some notorious ones urinated on the walls, a nasty one maybe to ask the administration ‘mtado?’Anyway, to their credit, some students stole teachers’ textbooks so that they could revise at home!

SLEEPING ON THE COLD FLOOR 

Long story short, we took to the nearby forest after the police were called in. I don’t know how we ended up there, but we spent the night sleeping on the COLD FLOOR at the DC’s office in Wote.

After this, teachers had no option but to let us go home. WORD QUICKLY SPREAD to other schools. Not to be left behind, those students soon joined us at home, having successfully burnt their dormitories.

To this date, I’ve never really known the main reason for the strike. Oppression and caning by teachers, slapping by prefects topped the agenda, but there were also  issues of bad food, sijui school bus, exams, etc. It is now more than 8 years after the incident, and the reasons why students go on the rampage remain almost the same. 

Boys will always be boys. 

FOOTNOTE #1 I recently met a former student who supported the strike (he was in Form 2 then), and he doesn’t regret participating. Says it brought great change.

NB: This may not be the exact chronology of events. Old Boys, feel free to correct me where you can.

FOOTNOTE #2 That December, the country was plunged into Post Election Violence following the disputed results of the General Election. I know I may sound a bit paranoid, but I honestly hope and pray that this won’t be the case in 2017. Peace!

Ni mimi wenu, Mwangangi.