Girls were sexually assaulted at Moi Girls High School but they were ordered to bathe, put on fresh clothes and remember it was no big deal, Education CS Amina Mohamed told MPs yesterday.
“They were encouraged by adults in the school to go bathe, change and go to class. They were told the incident was a small thing and they should not make a big deal out of it ,since it could tarnish the school’s name," Amina told the National Assembly's Education Committee.
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The CS said that two medical reports confirmed the girls were sexually assaulted on the night of June 2-3 in the case that caused nationwide outrage about sex crimes in schools and lack of security.
Amina did not say how many girls were involved or use the word 'rape'. Early reports indicated that one girl was raped and two others sexually assaulted.
The CS said the matron and a group of teachers misled the students to shower and change clothes, thereby destroying evidence.
In early June, boarding mistress Celestine Mutiso told the same committee, "The girls were crying. They had not showered."
DNA samples were taken from 32 men, including teachers, staff and men who were at the school on that weekend.
No match was found.
MPs had asked the CS to explain why the students were already in school uniform, as if nothing happened, and who ordered them to wear uniforms. The committee is chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly.
“Two different medical reports from different hospitals showed that something happened. I have no reason to doubt those reports, but we are waiting for a complete report from DCI to know what transpired,” the CS said.
There has been controversy regarding the case, with the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers dismissing rape claims.
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Yesterday
Amina told the committee that an investigation report by Quality Assurance and Standards Officers identified school security lapses. It said there were various attempts to breach the girls' privacy, since the deadly fire in September 2017. Construction workers were cited.
"They were writing messages like 'Please call me when you get this," and phone numbers on currency notes and then throwing them into the girl's dormitories," Amina told the committee.
The report also found that the school's Board of Management and the Parents Association was very lax and so were security guards who were found not to be vigilant, the CS said.
The report also said the school's perimeter wall was porous and could allow strangers to enter into the compound; dormitories were left open at night; activities such as drama were allowed to go on until past 8pm and the surveillance system and alarms were not functional.
"Adjudicators and trainers stayed late in the school compound and visiting trainers and adjudicators did not sign out as evidence that they had left the school compound," the report says.
Amina took issue with the report that the matron was asleep and, despite girls' banging on her door for help, she did not respond until morning.
"The matron, who is 65 years of age, was overwhelmed by the number of students. Girls could move from one dormitory to another at night. There was laxity by the dormitory mistresses as no roll call was conducted at night," the CS said.
Matron Monica Wambui told the same assembly committee on June 6, “I was woken up by commotion at my door. Students were shouting that they had been raped. She said she called boarding mistress Celestine Mutiso at 5.08am before proceeding to the dormitory, where she found the raped girl lying in her cubicle.
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Concerning school unrest and arson, Amina told the committee that 107 schools out of 8,900 public and 1,800 private schools have been affected.
Eastern region has had 22 cases reported of arson, followed by Nyanza region with 17 cases, Rift Valley with 12 cases. Western,
Coast and Nairobi regions recorded four, four and two cases, respectively.
Central recorded only one case, while Northeastern had none.
Amina said unrest could be caused by fear of national exams due to strict measures to curb cheating; drug abuse by the students; communication problems and lack of role models in society where violence is used to resolve conflicts.
Others causes cited are the "domino-effect"/copycat mentality by schools in the same region; opposition to new school management, shortage of teachers leading to incomplete syllabus coverage, resulting in panic by ill-prepared students.
Inadequate facilities were also cited.