WE ARE GOING TO BAN ALL BOARDING SCHOOLS, MPS HEATED DEBATE AFTER SCHOOL FIRE SPIKE DURING 2ND TERM

Añadido: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Member for Gilgil.

[00:00:02]>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, even as I make this statement, indulge me to thank you and the house on your moment of silence on the Utumishi Academy that you did, and the visits that we got from some members who are here and who are not in the house, but they came. Honorable speaker, pursuant to the provisions of standing order 43, I rise to make a general statement regarding the fire tragedy that occurred at Utumishi Girls Senior School in Gilgil Constituency.

[00:00:32]Honorable speaker, on the night of Thursday, 28th May, 2026, 16 innocent young lives were lost following a tragic fire incident that occurred at Utumishi Girls Senior School, while 79 learners sustained injuries and are admitted in different hospitals uh in the country. Mr. Speaker, this unfortunate incident has left scores of students, parents, guardians, teaching staff, support staff, and members of the wider community traumatized. To many, life will never be the same again. As you are aware, Mr. Speaker, our country has experienced a similar tragic incident in learning institutions over the years, each leaving behind grief, disruption, and repeated pleas for reform. Various commissions of inquiry, task forces, and investigative bodies have previously made recommendations aimed at strengthening safety and preventing recurrence of such incidents.

[00:01:30]However, the implementation of these recommendations has remained inconsistent. The Utumishi Girls Senior School has now joined the statistics of another tragedy caused by failure to implement previous reports of safety for our children in schools. Honorable speaker, I wish to acknowledge and commend the government of Kenya through the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and National Administration, Ministry of Defense, National Police Service, the DCI, the Red Cross team, the medical personnel, the county health services, the emergency responders, the counselors, school leadership, and all stakeholders who have been involved in rescue operations, the medical intervention, psychosocial support, and ongoing coordination following this tragedy.

[00:02:14]Honorable Speaker, as we reflect on this painful tragedy, we must also acknowledge our difficult reality that the responsibility of raising, guiding, and protecting our children cannot rest solely on our schools or on government.

[00:02:28]The molding of a child begins at home.

[00:02:30]It is reinforced in school and is strengthened by the wider community. The events This events should compel the public to undertake a national reflection on whether every stakeholder is fully discharging their responsibility. Honorable Speaker, this tragic incident raises urgent and recurring national concerns requiring comprehensive attention, particularly in regard Fire safety preparedness and compliance standards in boarding schools across the country. Number two, the effectiveness of surveillance systems, including CCTV installation, monitoring, and response protocols in learning institutions.

[00:03:10]Number three, the adequacy and timeliness of emergency response mechanisms during such incidents. Number four, the roles and responsibility of school administrators and relevant government agencies in safeguarding learners. Number five, the psychosocial support system for learners, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders exposed to trauma. And finally, the broader issue of discipline and lack thereof in our institutions.

[00:03:40]Honorable Speaker, I urge the Minister of Education through the committee of this house to strengthen oversight by fully decentralizing and operationalizing safety, security, and welfare monitoring mechanisms at the constituency level.

[00:03:54]Every constituency should have a clearly defined framework bringing together education officers, school administrations, boards of management, parent representatives, security agencies, and local leadership to regularly review compliance with safety standards, learner welfare, and discipline management. Prevention must become a local responsibility before it becomes a national crisis. Honorable speaker, it is also imperative that we empower our learners to be actively involved in the implementation of key recommendations by the relevant ministries and agencies with a specificity on the on their security.

[00:04:32]May this tragedy serve as a turning point in our national commitment to the safety, security, and well-being of every learner. I wish to honor and pay tribute to the 16 learners who perished in this tragedy. May their souls rest in eternal peace, and may their families find peace. I thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:04:56]>> Thank you, mother.

[00:04:58]Uh as I give one or two of you to comment, I've been requested by the member for the area that there is a serious ongoing homicide investigations.

[00:05:15]So, those of you who want to make interventions, just uh steer clear of the possibility of prejudicing the ongoing investigations. Majority leader?

[00:05:29]>> Thank you, Honorable Speaker. Honorable Speaker, once again, allow me to begin by conveying my very deep condolences to the families of the young girls who lost their lives in Gilgil Utumishi Academy.

[00:05:43]Honorable Speaker, even this afternoon as we welcome the students in the speakers gallery, Thika High School, Muguna Girls, Non Koper in from Kajiado East and St. Angela from Kericho and Muranga, to also take this opportunity to speak to these students.

[00:06:05]And ask them to honor not just the schools where they are attending, but also their parents, their teachers, and their colleagues in the schools.

[00:06:16]As honorable speaker, you have said, cognizant of the fact that there is an ongoing investigation into the tragedy at Utumishi Academy, we must also, as a nation, come together at this time.

[00:06:32]Not only to speak to ourselves as parents, but also to speak to our students as our children.

[00:06:40]And implore on them on the need to grow up as responsible citizens. And I say that, honorable speaker, because at least I have had time to engage with some of these students today.

[00:06:54]I have just met the students president from Thika High High, Terence Giduku, who is in the speakers gallery, and two of his deputies.

[00:07:04]And I had occasion to visit Thika High together with yourself about a week or two ago, last Friday but one, actually.

[00:07:13]And today, honorable speaker, you have presented the contribution of members of parliament, including yourself, and a number of us, to support.

[00:07:23]And when I went through that list of the students being supported, I've seen some students with fees arrears of up to 120,000 shillings, who, out of the benevolence of members of parliament, they now have support to continue their education.

[00:07:38]And these are the sacrifices parents make, and we are making as leaders also to support many of these students.

[00:07:46]When we went to Thika High School, honorable speaker, there was a young man who is seated in the speaker's gallery today, Isaac Mwaura, who went to the school that I went to, Kikuyu Township Primary School. That young man went to Kikuyu Township Primary School and he reminded the president when he met him at the science exhibition that the president when the president 3 years ago went to commission KCPE at Kikuyu Township Primary School, that young man was a student at Kikuyu Township Primary School. But out of sheer discipline, he's now found himself in Thika High School, a very good school, and together with Terence Gituku and the other students, they are leading our students body. And I want to speak to these young ones and ask them, "Please, maintain discipline in school as you do at home."

[00:08:37]Many of the cases you hear, especially in this second term, honorable speaker, is because students probably are fatigued and want to go home.

[00:08:46]If you want to go home, you do not need to burn down anything.

[00:08:50]Not a dormitory, not a classroom, not a school bus, nothing.

[00:08:55]Honorable speaker, I had the governor for Nakuru over the weekend pose the question, "Could these young ones be learning from us?

[00:09:08]That whenever we want to protest, we must burn down buildings.

[00:09:13]We must burn down people's shops and people's cars." I saw the other week people are protesting in Githurai and they had to burn down somebody's car.

[00:09:23]We must lead by example as leaders and as parents, not just as leaders.

[00:09:28]As the people who are parents, anybody who is a parent or an aspiring parent, if we want to protest on anything as a country, let us not have fires everywhere because these children could be copying from us or from the country.

[00:09:44]Therefore, I say that careful not to condemn anybody, honorable speaker, but to plead with the nation that we learn from our past mistakes.

[00:09:57]When the school in Ukambani, I think it was Kivanguli.

[00:10:04]Changuli High School.

[00:10:08]When we lost 67 students in that school, there were measures that were taken, some of which I believe were already in place in this school.

[00:10:19]But I tell you we have a deeper problem than the physical things that we do. I don't know whether it will be enough to even put fire detectors and fire suppression systems in all these schools, but can we afford it as a country?

[00:10:33]Will parents be able to afford fire suppression systems in each and every dormitory in our schools, honorable speaker? Therefore, it calls for a deeper conversation. It It is not enough, honorable speaker, today to just point fingers at each other.

[00:10:46]No, I heard somebody say that Parliament was praying when there was a fire in the school, honorable speaker. I know it's also reckless of anybody, whether you're in the media or you are a leader in whatever sphere, to claim that Parliament was praying at a time our children were burning in school, honorable speaker.

[00:11:09]The National Prayer Breakfast is something that rests in our calendar in Parliament. It is known It is a set date.

[00:11:19]And we set that date last year.

[00:11:22]Nobody had planned for this fire, honorable speaker. Therefore, that person who was saying that I don't Don't do to dignify them with naming them because they don't need to be dignified from this floor.

[00:11:33]May I say shame on you that you can take advantage of such an unfortunate incident to just throw bombs at this house.

[00:11:45]Even prayers, honorable speaker, I want to say prayers work.

[00:11:50]And we must pray for our children.

[00:11:53]We must pray for our children in schools, in our homes, and as much as we pray for our nation, honorable speaker.

[00:12:00]Let me say again, this is a time that we are being called to converse individually in our homes with our children, collectively in schools, even on the platforms, political platforms, and other platforms that we get, in our churches.

[00:12:23]Because, honorable speaker, again, many of our church leaders have become more politicians than politicians. And that's why I continue to honor the Muslim faith. Because I never hear anybody in a mosque speaking politics.

[00:12:40]But for us as Christians, this must be our time for introspection, to ask ourselves, even as we point fingers at administrators in schools, as we point fingers at political leaders, those of us who are serving in the church, where are we failing in shepherding these young ones in the right manner, honorable speaker? Because there is a failure somewhere.

[00:13:07]And I say that without pointing fingers at anybody, saying that it is a time that we need to come together and have a conversation as Kenyans and as human kind, honorable speaker, because we have a problem. And it is not a small problem, speaker. It is a big, big, big problem. If we do not address it now, we will have more major problems in the coming days.

[00:13:31]Because these things that we see, these small incidences, a fire in a school, deaths in schools, an accident here and there, a small demonstration that turns out to become a very violent thing and you end up losing lives.

[00:13:48]These are just manifestations of a bigger problem that we must address, honorable speaker. My condolences to the parents.

[00:13:55]I have seen the anguish and the pain of those parents and I identify with the pain that they feel.

[00:14:01]That you sent your young girl to go to school to secure her future, and now you have no child out of the actions of somebody else, honorable speaker. It is indeed painful and I must say we must be careful what we say about these incidences because we must remember there are parents who are grieving.

[00:14:21]There are siblings of those young ones.

[00:14:23]Yesterday I just saw on Facebook, honorable speaker, a young man shared the pain that he's going through after losing the sister and sharing pictures of the time he spent with the sister even as she went back to school this term.

[00:14:40]And that girl is no more, honorable speaker. It is indeed painful and we must share in that grief and pain with those parents and the school and also recognize that these young ones, honorable speaker, even those in Utumishi, are traumatized.

[00:14:55]Maybe they never imagined it would get to what it has gotten to, but it is what it is now.

[00:15:01]It will affect them for a long time and we must ask maybe the chair of the education committee to make sure they engage with the Ministry of Education to make sure that there is some level of counseling that is done to these students and those who neighbor that school. Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:15:18]>> Uh the rest, let's take 2 minutes each.

[00:15:21]Robert Mboye.

[00:15:28]Give Robert Mboye.

[00:15:31]Is it on this Robert? Or something else?

[00:15:36]There's a mic next to you.

[00:15:38]>> Uh thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, you know, I've actually in my previous life been involved one time in handling a matter of arson in a school. And Mr. Speaker, what was surprising is that the children that were involved in that case of arson majority of them had no idea why they were involved.

[00:15:56]And only one is actually the one who had the plan because the intention was for the school to be closed so that they could go and restock their their their their supply of drugs because they had run out. So, sometimes they have very flimsy reasons that are used to to to to to to to cause these these cases. And Mr. Speaker, arson arson is a crime.

[00:16:16]Unfortunately, when arson leads to people losing their lives, it ends up becoming murder, which is another crime.

[00:16:22]So, the question we are we are now you know, grappling with is how then do we try a crime that is actually at such a level as murder? Because yes, we know they are children, but then what about the ones who have lost their lives? So, Mr. Speaker, it's a very very sensitive place we are in, and I want to agree with the honorable member that maybe we don't get into too much into the details, but it is important that as we proceed, the government must come up with maybe a commission of inquiry. I remember a while back we had devil worshipping in schools, and there was a commission of inquiry that dealt with it. So, maybe now we need to figure we need to find out what is it that is making our children, you know, just Kenyan children? Because, Mr. Speaker, this is not a global problem. This is a Kenyan problem. Actually, arson in schools is a Kenyan problem. Are we going to have to do away with boarding schools? Yet we know that there are parents and their children who have no alternative but to have their children in boarding. So, Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with the with the with the lives of those ones that were those those families that their children lost their lives, but I think as a government we must we must find a solution going forward. But, Mr. Speaker, finally, I want to say the last time we had such cases, the Ministry of Education came up with a raft of measures, which, Mr. Speaker, sometimes is just you know, it's it's it's like we're treating the symptoms instead of the problem. Mr. Speaker, when the Ministry says, for example, that they're not going to allow beds that are wooden in schools, I don't think that's really part of the that is a solution to the problem. Because if anything, if you look at some of the international schools, they have very beautiful furniture that is wooden. Now, if you say that the bed must be metallic, what about mattresses? Are you going to make the mattresses metallic?

[00:17:59]Are you going to make the curtains metallic? So, we may need to find another solution not to deal with those things on a half-baked measure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:18:08]>> Dorothy Chellah.

[00:18:13]There's a lot of interest, so take a minute.

[00:18:15]>> Teach.

[00:18:17]>> Thank you, honorable speaker. Honorable speaker, allow me to join mother honorable mother Wangari, MP for Gilgil, in condoling with the families that have lost their loved ones. Honorable speaker, the immeasurable pain, torture, and torment that these parents are going through, including their teachers, their classmates who are alive, it is immeasurable, honorable speaker.

[00:18:45]Honorable speaker, I wish to say sincerely, I condole with those families and wish those that are in hospital quick recovery. Honorable speaker, it is the right time that when we talk of commission of inquiries, honorable speaker, something that happened when Bombolulu school was burnt down, something that happened when Changuli school was also burnt down. This commission of inquiries give recommendations, honorable speaker, but at the end of the day, very few recommendations are implemented. It is the high time, honorable speaker, that we speak our mind, we search and know what is really healing our students in our schools, come out, honorable speaker, and come out with the recommendations that honorable speaker will cure this.

[00:19:41]Even if it means having our schools as day schools, so be it, honorable speaker. Life is more precious.

[00:19:49]>> Honorable member for Rongo.

[00:19:52]>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:19:54]Mr. Speaker, I condone with the families that have lost uh their little ones.

[00:20:00]And I think we must accept that we have all failed the children who perished.

[00:20:05]We failed them through the school. We failed them through the government. We failed them through policies. And even we, as parliament, we are part of those who failed them. We must collectively apologize that we have failed those children. Mr. Speaker, this has become a trend. The idea of burning schools and school land rates is a trend that must be examined. As we examine ourselves and agree with the majority leader, we must examine the values that we are instilling in the children.

[00:20:37]We must examine the place of religion.

[00:20:40]Many of us, when we were growing up, raising a child was a collective responsibility. Now, it has been left to the parent and the teacher.

[00:20:49]The teacher is disempowered because there's not much the teacher can do other than warn. Many of us parents, once we submit the child to school, we wash our hands. The child is left to the internet.

[00:21:01]Some of the things they are doing are things that clearly can only be brought from the internet. We must re-examine even the place of access to the internet for everyone. Mr. Speaker, I say only two things as I finish. One, I think it is time that as Parliament we form an ad hoc committee to examine unrest in schools.

[00:21:21]It is not enough to leave it to the department anymore.

[00:21:24]Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I think that we must also re-examine the circumstances that were putting the schools to. If you look at the images of that school and that's a high-end school, you see that the dormitory was highly congested.

[00:21:37]There were beds on the corridors, there were beds next to the door. This 100% transition without the proper infrastructure is part of the problem. I so submit, Mr. Speaker.

[00:21:49]>> Mwalimu Okay, Mwalimu, yield the floor. You'll speak later.

[00:21:59]>> Yes.

[00:22:00]I let me let me comment last, yes.

[00:22:02]>> Listen to others first.

[00:22:04]Yes, uh Mwalimu Tai Tumu.

[00:22:14]>> Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity. First of all, let me tender my condolences to the families that lost their young ones.

[00:22:22]Number two, Mr. Speaker, this is an exhibition of high levels of moral decadence in our society.

[00:22:31]Our moral social fabric uh honorable speaker is wanting.

[00:22:37]Uh in relation to what happened in Utumishi Academy, Mr. Speaker, some principals live in ivory tower such that there is no flow of information from teachers to the principal. Particularly, uh where we have the girls, the men who teach there they cannot pass information to the principals because if they do, at times they have been victimized, and bringing a gap between the administrators and the teachers who should be manning those institutions. As it has been said by the majority leader, Mr. Speaker, it is said that monkeys see, monkeys do.

[00:23:20]What is happening in our society today?

[00:23:25]>> Your time is up.

[00:23:27]Mama Zamzam.

[00:23:31]>> Thank you.

[00:24:23]take responsibility.

[00:24:32]>> Kangogo Bowen.

[00:24:38]Mr. Speaker, let me join my colleagues also to condole with the family of the 16 girls.

[00:24:45]Mr. Speaker, and to say as a as a parliament and as a country, honorable speaker, we need to reflect and re-look again this uh issue of our boarding schools.

[00:24:59]Mr. Speaker, if you check in the developed countries, there are very few or even no boarding schools. I think we need to re-look about boarding schools as a country.

[00:25:10]Number two, honorable speaker, we need to come up as a country and also as a ministry. And the chairman of education mainly must listen to this, honorable speaker. We need to have a standardized and policy. Especially on the on the domes across the country, honorable speaker. You will find that there's what we saw from those domes that were very congested. In a cube which is supposed to take 12 girls, they are more than 12.

[00:25:37]>> [snorts] >> Wangwe.

[00:25:43]>> Thank you, honorable speaker. Honorable speaker, allow me to join my colleagues to condole with the family of the 16 girls who lost their souls during the inferno. Honorable speaker, whereas the fire fire was taking off in Utumishi, it also happened in my constituency. Two schools, Emulama Primary School and Igota Boys High School, honorable speaker, together with Chebisa High School. Honorable speaker, this is a bad precedence that we are seeing.

[00:26:10]The issue we must look at is can we call for a whole comprehensive understanding, maybe through Parliament and any other investigatory organization authority, honorable speaker, that the Parliament sets up an ad hoc committee the way my colleague has said to look at the what is happening in fires across the country. Honorable speaker, listening to what is happening quoting my place, honorable speaker, is that a few of my students had issues, but the principal did not bring out those issues on time, honorable speaker. Can we have a way >> Thank you. Um Maklab.

[00:26:51]Death has no gender.

[00:26:54]Uh >> Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:26:56]My very sincere condolence to the parents who lost their loving ones and quick recovery to those students who are still having injuries. Mr. Speaker, I am one of the first members of parliament to be in that school.

[00:27:14]Together with the Minister of Education, the PS, and the Minister of Interior.

[00:27:19]Mr. Speaker, what I saw is not very good for this country.

[00:27:25]Mr. Speaker, even today, I am equally affected because one of the students come from Budwesa and their father is Raymond Kangogo Chepkonga.

[00:27:37]And and up to today, they don't know where their daughter is because uh out of the 16, 11 students have not been able to be identified. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask also the forensic people to speed up >> Your time is up.

[00:27:58]We should uh try to come to an end on this, Wanjala.

[00:28:06]Wanjala.

[00:28:06]>> Yes. Uh uh thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:28:09]First, I send condolences to the parents and Kenyans to have lost young kids.

[00:28:16]Secondly, honorable speaker, I want to advise Kenyans, when they are demonstrating, they should not be burning tires on the roads because these is are some of the things children are seeing and they want also that when they have a problem, they must burn schools the way their parents and protesters burn roads. Honorable speaker, even if the parents of those children or even the parents of those children, I saw them at the police station and they behaved like those children. That means show me your friend and I'll tell who you are. Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:28:54]>> Naomi.

[00:28:58]>> Thank you, honorable speaker. My sincere condolence to the families who have lost their loved ones, the young ones.

[00:29:05]It is unfortunate that we have lost so many lives as a result of fire in schools. Again, my sincere wishes to those who are in hospital for quick recovery as I also uh pray that those students will be given enough counseling and their parents because what they are going through is serious and they need proper attention. As a nation again, we need to seriously address the issue of uh school boarding schools so that we come up with clear strategies to protect our children from such incidences. Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:29:46]>> Millie Odhiambo.

[00:29:49]>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give my condolences to the families of the uh uh girls who lost their lives. Mr. Speaker, what I want to encourage us, this is not the first time as a country that we are facing this. So, let us not have knee-jerk reaction to this situation condemning uh parents, condemning teachers, condemning everyone when this problem might be much bigger much bigger than this. Let us after this look comprehensively at what the situation is. It's not necessarily about boarding. It It may not necessarily about people uh burning tires, but it we could be facing a much deeper problem.

[00:30:28]Let us after this look at what is bedeviling our country, especially our young ones. Mr. Speaker, thank you.

[00:30:36]>> Can we end here?

[00:30:37]>> No.

[00:30:45]>> Omongina >> [laughter] >> You are Omongina, you are not Omongina.

[00:30:56]>> [laughter] >> But they have given me the mic, Mr. Speaker.

[00:31:00]>> Not you, Donya.

[00:31:04]>> Obviously Obviously this is Omongina.

[00:31:09]Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:31:12]I also want this afternoon to send my condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones.

[00:31:20]The very young souls who are going to be very vibrant in our country.

[00:31:26]We want to say pole sana for what has happened, and I want to talk to parents.

[00:31:32]My dear parents, wherever you are, let us take up our law our role as parents to advise our children, to talk to our children whenever they go to boarding schools. Those children needs our guidance. They need to be taught on how to behave, on how to live with others, and for sure this has been the greatest uh setback that we have had as Kenyans, and the forensic investigation should be done.

[00:32:04]>> Okay, Donya.

[00:32:09]>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[00:32:11]Uh the issue of boarding schools, uh Mr. Speaker, we as members of parliament can pass a law that uh says something on boarding schools, which I suggest we should not have uh boarding schools because, Mr. Speaker, more deaths have come because of these boarding schools. You can all remember, honorable members, when our children open school, we are told a certain bus uh as caused an accident. A certain bus or all the directions where our children go. That's number one unsafety for our learners. Number two, we have we must have suggestion box in our schools so that our learners can express that that dissatisfaction and the committee which will be formed can go around Mr. Speaker and get to know what the learners are going through.

[00:33:00]Thank you Mr. Speaker.

[00:33:04]>> Melly to the foguy up >> Thank you. Thank you honorable speaker.

[00:33:12]Honorable speaker I want >> Hold order Melly. Hold you on to inform Karuru Mundi.

[00:33:19]He has not said anything what's it being informed.

[00:33:24]Go on Melly.

[00:33:29]Melly go on.

[00:33:30]I give you 2 minutes as chair.

[00:33:34]>> Thank you. Thank you honorable speaker.

[00:33:35]Honorable speaker I want to join my colleagues and Kenyans in conveying my condolences to the parents, to the families, to the Utumishi Academy and the republic for the loss of the 16 children.

[00:33:48]Honorable speaker, members have spoken here and I want to join them and agree with them in a number of issues but more importantly honorable speaker fires in schools and riots is not a new thing in this country. You remember the Kilifi incident where we lost so many students.

[00:34:04]A few a few years ago we had the fire in Nandarasha.

[00:34:09]Now we have fire in uh in in Utumishi Academy. Honorable speaker schools are actually a reflection of our families and societies.

[00:34:21]What has really happened? It has been recommended all these years. I remember the Kilimi Mwiria report which investigated schools and even the Koi age report of 2007 2008, we had the Kilimo Muli report of 2015-16.

[00:34:38]And one of the things that we discussed, honorable speaker, is the safety of dormitories, safety of learners, and how those windows should be structured. In fact, through that recommendation, honorable speaker, they recommended schools not to have grills, that doors should open outside, and many other recommendations. Honorable speaker, the biggest issue that we have is the implementing agencies not sticking to policy, not sticking to programs, and more importantly, putting students, so many students, be congested in schools.

[00:35:11]A few days ago, honorable speaker, you realized that we admitted grade 10, and majority of these schools in this country with so many classrooms, enough teachers, do not have students because there was no proper uh there was no proper admission processes.

[00:35:27]So that you'll realize a number of C1 C2 schools, crammed schools with thousands of students or hundreds of students, and we they went even against the advice of the education committee.

[00:35:41]Honorable speaker, I know the the the the homicide group is investigating.

[00:35:47]>> You give him uh 1 minute.

[00:35:53]>> Yes. Uh the the the homicide team is investigating. I had a discussion with the IG, and they're doing a good job. I even discussed with the member of parliament honorable Ongari.

[00:36:04]But the idea here, speaker, is actually to crack the whip, especially on management, on the issue of uh overcrowding, and more importantly, also let's come back home and see how we can carry out the discipline process in homes, not only in schools, and even across the country, honorable speaker.

[00:36:28]>> Mirembe.

[00:36:29]>> Yes.

[00:36:29]>> Take your seat, Muleli.

[00:36:31]>> The honorable member, who is also the chair of education, is very aware aware that he's the one who presided over the intake process of the uh grade 10.

[00:36:44]And it was done in such a manner that there was no limit.

[00:36:48]And schools are under serious pressure, honorable speaker.

[00:36:53]And even preliminary investigations are showing that the girls who burned the dormitory were grade 10. And he presided over that process together with the minister. Is it in order to say >> I already directed Mulemba that don't say anything that would prejudice the homicide investigation.

[00:37:11]>> I apologize, honorable speaker. So, please, let me ask him to be very very candid and also very straight that there's a something wrong in the policy of intake which has made the school the students to be completely By the way, honorable speaker, it's all in all the boarding schools. And let's do away with the boarding schools. Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:37:32]>> Karoro Mond, what's your point of order?

[00:37:35]>> Honorable speaker, I I just wanted to inform uh honorable Muleli that all we have been discussing is the hardware, but we have the software, which I did present successfully before his committee, the education laws amendment act, that would enshrine our national values in the curriculum.

[00:37:53]Because what we are dealing with is failure of national values.

[00:37:57]Actually, what we are now discussing is the hardware portion of it. But if you look at the situation in Tumishi, it is collapse of the value systems that has led to this crisis. And could now the honorable member, I mean, majority leader speed up the tabling of the education amendment laws so that we can entrench nationhood science as a mandatory subject in our national curriculum to deal with this kind of problem.

[00:38:20]>> Yes, let me finish up.

[00:38:24]>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do agree over all with the honorable member for Suba because he came before the committee and that is a very good Suba South, yes.

[00:38:35]But uh honorable speaker, I do not agree with the my good friend uh honorable Milemba because I do not preside over admission processes in this country. We oversight education committee and we did mention to them that problem of overcrowding and I don't want to go into it because we are having investigations now.

[00:38:53]But generally, I want to say that uh our schools we it is not an issue of boarding. It is an because majority of us, including Mr. Speaker and myself and everyone else, went to boarding schools. And that time, nobody was being burned. No schools were burned at that time. We need to re-look again on how we are running up our policies and programs on school systems in this country. I thank you, honorable speaker. Thank you.

[00:39:20]>> Thank you. We'll end it here. Honorable Meli, you had you had members talk over an ad hoc committee to deal with this matter.

[00:39:32]Your committee under standing order 216 (5) we don't need an ad hoc committee. Your committee can investigate, inquire into and report on all matters relating to the mandate, management, activities, administration, operations, and estimates of the assigned ministries and departments.

[00:39:54]So, you can move your committee without being caused by the house to not only look at Utumishi, but all the other schools that are going up in flames and tell the the country what is the problem and what the possible solutions are.

[00:40:15]>> Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take it up and I think that that has been the issue because when I was discussing yesterday I the IG and told us that the homicides are out. Now we are going to sit down and see how we are going to investigate and carry out the the those those issues. Not only for Utumishi Academy, but the whole country. Thank you.

[00:40:35]>> Member for Thika, what is it?

[00:40:38]>> Thank you, honorable speaker. I just also wanted to inform honorable member just 1 second.

[00:40:44]But when we are looking at all these things in these schools, I think we need to have therapist or counselors. Some of these children, they need somebody to talk to and then I think the pressure is too much and they don't know where to where they are their their their their their issues. So I would say when we are looking into it, we look at their mental wellness because at times I think they have too much pressure, but they don't know where to to vent the pressure.

[00:41:09]Thank you, honorable speaker.

[00:41:10]>> Honorable members, I think one member said and I want to encourage talk to your constituents. Parents have surrendered their children to social media.

[00:41:23]Completely.

[00:41:25]There is there hardly any parents who sit with their children to tell them the do's and don'ts of life.

[00:41:32]The parents feel that once you give your child a smartphone, your problem is over.

[00:41:39]It's the beginning of an even bigger problem.

[00:41:42]And we need to deal with that. Honorable members, allow me to acknowledge in the public gallery HGM Ting'ang'a School from Kiambu Town, Kiambu.

[00:41:57]Mwanyalo Comprehensive School from Mundanyi, Taita Taveta.

[00:42:02]Mutw'a Ng'ombe School from Kiriiti Senior School from Tetu, Nyeri.

[00:42:12]And from the speaker's gallery a rule from the speakers gallery Ruathia Girls School from Kangema Muranga.

[00:42:21]On my behalf and on behalf of parliament we welcome the students, their teachers and those accompanying them to the house of parliament.