Kisumu Boys': Education director rules out closing school over fire incident

By Peter Ochieng

Students at the Kisumu Boys' High School will go on with their studies, despite a fire incident at the institution on Sunday evenning.

Fire gutted down a store and a dormitory, affecting up to 260 students.

Speaking during a fact finding mission at the school on Monday, Nelson Sifuna, Nyanza region director of education said they cannot afford to shut the school, especially at this juncture when form fours are preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), which is around the corner.

"This is third term when students are preparing for examinations to move to the next level, they will not be sent home,” said the director.

He said the fire started at a store where mattresses are kept, before spreading to an adjacent dormitory.

No one lost life, but some students were injured in the process of trying to salvage their property from the burning dormitory.

It was put out through collective efforts of fire fighters from the county government of Kisumu and Kibos Sugar factory.

The cause of the fire is not clear, with Kisumu County Commissioner Hussein Allasow announcing that investigations are on.

"The DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) team has kicked off investigations into this matter and at the moment it is still too early to say what caused the fire."

It is the third fire incident at the school since last year. On Sunday morning, Kisumu Girls High School was closed indefinitely, over students' unrest. Sifuna in confirming the shut down, said students agitation that started on Friday was getting out of hand.

"This morning they woke up with more agitation. First, they went to the Dining Hall and wanted to play all types of music. There was a blackout and they started shouting and throwing papers. The board had a meeting, resolved that to restore order the school closes as they look into their grievances."

It is not clear when the girls will be back.