- The school has attracted enrolment of children of many different nationalities.
- For one to enrol their child with their school, they must pay a registration fee of Sh140,000, according to a parent at the school.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Learning has resumed at Nyali School in Mombasa after area MP Mohammed Ali brokered a truce between two warring parties.
Parents have refused to take their children to school after weeks of frequent disruptions following an attempt by a section of the parents to push out the outgoing management board.
On Wednesday, a fistfight erupted as parents tried to forcefully eject the outgoing board chairperson Benjamin Gitonga, who had gone to the school to address parents and teachers.
Gitonga, then, said it was an attempt to start an arbitration process as ordered by the High Court in Mombasa.
On Thursday, Ali called for a meeting between members of the outgoing board, those of the new board, education officials and security apparatus, led by county police commander Stephen Matu, at his National Government Constituencies Development Fund offices.
For two hours, there were deliberations which started at 2.30pm.
“There is white smoke about the entire issue to do with Nyali school,” Ali declared at 4.30pm after the meeting ended.
The meeting, according to the lawmaker, agreed to have learners resume school immediately.
“Two, we have agreed that the old board are officially out because they had agreed to step down voluntarily during their meeting with the county commissioner.
“The new board will now officially be in charge on an interim basis because the case is in court and we are looking for arbitration,” Ali said.
“So, they are going to take over as we settle the small issues that are remaining through arbitration.”
He said the agreement is to put the interest of the learners first.
Lawyers representing both parties were present at the meeting.
He called on the parents to stop using their social media accounts to disparage the Judiciary, lawyers and other parties linked to the school.
Ali said they are now seeking to have the court case withdrawn.
The case was orchestrated by the outgoing board who felt they were unfairly pushed out.
On Friday, the MP visited the school to ensure learning resumes smoothly.
A parent said the learners and teachers were in high spirits.
“We thank the MP for his intervention. Now we can take our children to school without fear of any fight breaking out,” the parent, who sought anonymity, said.
However, an insider told the Star the fights are about the lucrative tenders, land and vested interests by influential individuals across the Coast region.
The school, opened in January 1986, is owned by parents through the Mombasa Parents Club.
It was an offshoot of the Mombasa Parents Club Kindergarten, which was founded on March 13, 1942.
The kindergarten was founded as a result of the First World War, which came nearest to the coastal strip making Mombasa a base of military activities.
“As a result there was over-crowding and shortage of housing and on the other hand a very large increase of military service traffic, etc, making the children’s lives more precarious,” according to the school’s website.
“Many mothers became engaged on part-time or full time war work and had to think of a nursery school to take care of the children while they were at work. Thus the Parents’ Club may have been an outcome of the war; but it is an outcome that has now come to stay,” the school’s website reads in part.
The school sits on a five-acre piece of land donated by the government along Links Road, Nyali.
It is run by a management committee comprising the club chairman, the vice chairman, treasurer, secretary, education secretary, club affairs secretary and seven other committee members, who are elected to run the club’s affairs during the annual general meeting for a two-year term.
The management committee members ensure the provision of the physical facilities, equipment, staff recruitment and the welfare of the members.
The committee is governed by the club’s constitution.
The school has attracted enrolment of children of many different nationalities.
For one to enrol their child with their school, they must pay a registration fee of Sh140,000, according to a parent at the school.
“That is not the school fee. It is just so you join the parents’ club. Then you pay school fees of between Sh40,000 and Sh60,000 a term,” the parent said.
“If you do the math, this translates to around Sh96 million a year in fees. This means there are many tenders that the school has,” the parent, who did not want to be identified, said.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO