Same-sex secondary boarding schools in Kenya are, going by recent sensational news reports, dens of homosexual iniquity. Headteachers and principals are in denial. Parents are up in arms. Church leaders are waiting to see where the wind blows before they put in their worthless two-cents. The Cabinet Secretary and his Ministry are busily trying to walk as fast as possible away from the Laptop Tender. Meanwhile, TV pundits are not sure whether to be outraged or concerned for the welfare of our children.
This blogger is all for the most liberal interpretation of the law, especially if it means liberating hard-pressed Kenyans' talents in the pursuit of happiness and a fat wallet. But even he is unlikely to condone sordid tales of children engaging in licentious behaviour right under the noses of teachers and parents. in the past week, Kenyans have been horrified by the story of a child who was sexually assaulted by dormitory-mates and the callous reaction of the principal; instead of admitting that a child was in distress in her school, the principal chose to blame the child or her parents or God knows who else.
There is absolutely no reason why children should be engaging in sex while in school, homosexual or otherwise. The argument that teenagers will find a way to slip their leashes is insufficient to justify the lackadaisical response of the government, parents and school authorities across the land. It must be twice reinforced that if a child does not wish to engage in sexual activity, that child cannot be compelled to do so. Not by her peers or her social and academic betters. (Though how much better they could be is debatable.)
The reaction of the child's mother is admirable; she brought attention to the school and its administration. She took her child out of school and saw to it that the child received professional medical attention. The school administration in the obscenely obese person of the principal behaved shamefully and quite possibly, criminally. Instead of acknowledging that a child was in distress and fearing for its safety, the school administration chose to bury their collective heads in the sand and wish away what is a crisis in that school. (Another parent whose child committed suicide has come forward to remind the school of how the school failed her child.) But it is the dead silence from the precincts of Jogoo House, A and B, that is instructive. The Cabinet Secretary and the Inspector-General occupy the same block of buildings; yet both have maintained a studious silence while children are being sexually tortured at a "prestigious" secondary school.
Even if the parents have not complained officially to the police or to the district/county education officials, the information about the school is in the public domain. It is clear that there is a victim. It is equally clear that the school administration will do all in its power to sabotage the investigation into what actually happened to one of the children under its care. The cabinet secretary and the Inspector-General do not require an invitation bring the full might of their offices to bear upon that school and its administration and if necessary to haul every single negligent adult in that compound before the unsmiling faces f magistrates. But Mr Kaimenyi is busily trying to untie the Gordian Knot of public procurement while the Inspector-General is busily flexing his command authority muscles by cocking a snook at the Chairperson of the National Police Service Commission. Neither is interested in the heartrending tale of a child viciously assaulted in place that should have been safe as houses. Shame on all of them!
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