Parents of students at Liteini High School in Kericho County have threatened to sue the school’s Board of Governors over a directive requiring them to pay for losses incurred during recent student unrests.
Their lawyer, Danstan Omari, said the parents are opposed to the board’s decision to surcharge them for damages allegedly caused during the strike. He claimed the incidents appear to have been instigated by the school’s management to justify financial demands.
Omari told reporters that after the latest strike, the board engaged a government quantity surveyor from Nakuru to assess the damage and prepare a compensation plan amounting to ksh 99 million whereby the teachers are to be compensated Ksh 30 million which the parents have described as illogical.
The parents now want the High Court to order an inventory of the school’s assets,those damaged and those intact ,before any payment can be demanded. According to their own assessment, they are only willing to pay Ksh10,000 each.
Another lawyer representing the parents, Shadrack Wambui, said the board had initially demanded Ksh 99 million, which later reduced to Ksh 68 million after deducting the KSh 30 million.He argued that even the revised amount remains unreasonable and lacks transparency.
The parents have also protested the school’s directive requiring Form Four candidates to report back last, saying it is unfair to students preparing for their national examinations. They want the court to compel the school to readmit the candidates before other classes.
The petition filed before the High Court seeks judicial intervention against what the parents describe as illegality and arbitrariness by the school’s management.
The parents maintain that all students were admitted to the school when they had good conduct, questioning the management’s narrative that widespread indiscipline suddenly emerged.
They are seeking court protection through orders restraining the Board of Management from imposing the disputed compensation and subjecting parents to what they term as unlawful financial burdens.