"They Are Really Struggling in Silence" — Former Vice President Tells Govt Why Students Are Burning Schools

Sixteen students lost their lives in a devastating fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, leaving the nation grappling with painful questions about what is happening inside Kenya's boarding schools.

The tragedy came amid a wave of unrest that has affected nearly 200 secondary schools this term, with strikes, protests, and walkouts exposing growing frustration among students across the country.

As concern continues to mount, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has linked the unrest to a deeper crisis affecting Kenyan learners. He says many students are carrying heavy emotional burdens that schools are failing to address.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner in Nairobi, where he also outlined key aspects of his 2027 presidential campaign platform, Musyoka argued that students are sending a clear distress signal through the recent incidents.

"Our high school students are telling us that the mental health burden facing Kenyan teenagers today is heavier than any previous generation has carried. 

Yet the system around them has no effective way to listen to them, let alone help them," he said.

The remarks come as investigations into the Utumishi Girls fire continue. Preliminary findings point to arson, with several students arrested on suspicion of setting the dormitory ablaze following grievances against the school administration.

The incident shocked the country and reignited debate about conditions in boarding schools, including concerns over accommodation, food quality, academic pressure, and the lack of trusted channels through which students can raise complaints.

Kalonzo proposed a nationwide safety audit of all boarding school dormitories. He said the exercise should have strict compliance standards, clear deadlines, and legal consequences for administrators who fail to meet safety requirements.

He also called for a fully funded national school mental health programme to ensure learners have access to professional support when dealing with emotional and social challenges.

According to the former Vice President, the crisis extends beyond physical infrastructure and safety. He argued that the welfare, nutrition, accommodation, and emotional wellbeing of students must be reviewed comprehensively.

"No parent should ever receive the devastating news that a child will never come home again," he said.

The government has already taken action following the tragedy. The Ministry of Education, led by Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, dissolved the board of management at Utumishi Girls Academy and appointed a multi-stakeholder committee to investigate the causes of the unrest.

Additional quality assurance officers have also been deployed to carry out safety inspections in schools across the country.

While officials note that the majority of Kenya's more than 9,500 schools remain unaffected, education stakeholders say the recent incidents have exposed long-standing pressures within the country's highly competitive boarding school system.

Mental health experts have welcomed calls for dedicated support programmes, warning that many schools lack the trained personnel needed to help students experiencing distress.

Musyoka's intervention adds to growing criticism of the Kenya Kwanza administration's handling of education and youth affairs as political attention increasingly turns toward the 2027 General Election.

With investigations ongoing and school unrest showing no signs of disappearing completely, the debate now shifts to whether Kenya will address the deeper challenges facing students before another tragedy forces the country to confront them once again.