NYERI, Kenya Oct 23 – A public inquest into the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy, which was set to begin today, has been postponed to November this year.
Parents of the 21 boys who perished in the September 2024 dormitory inferno arrived at the Nyeri court on Thursday morning, only to find that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had not submitted the file containing findings from their investigations conducted at the school last year.
Through their lawyer, Raphael Okubo, the parents also informed the court that they had not received any formal communication from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) or the government regarding the inquest.
“We came to register our presence in court and to be made part of the proceedings because, interestingly, the victims’ parents have not been informed of the proceedings and were unaware of them. So, by way of vigilance, we came today to register and formally request to be made part of the proceedings,” he said.
The matter was brought to court on the recommendation of the ODPP, which advised that the case be presented as an inquest.
The decision was announced by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen while responding to questions from journalists during the Jukwaa la Usalama forum in Nyeri on August 26.
Last month, the parents of the 21 boys who perished in the fire, together with the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Elimu Bora Working Group, filed a constitutional petition seeking to have the school’s proprietors, the National Education Board, the Nyeri County Director of Education, the Nyeri County Education Board, and the Education Cabinet Secretary held accountable for allegedly abdicating their duty to protect and safeguard the lives of learners — a failure they say resulted in the deaths of their sons.
The petitioners also asked the court to compel the seven respondents in the case to make public the findings of investigations into the cause of the fire.
They argued that their right to human dignity under Article 28 of the Constitution continues to be violated by the respondents’ failure to disclose the cause and circumstances surrounding the tragedy that claimed their sons’ lives.
Magistrate Maryanne Gituma directed that the parents be supplied with all documents and evidence that the ODPP and the state intend to rely on during the inquest.
The matter will proceed on November 20.