Litein High School students in Kericho County went on the rampage on Sunday night and set ablaze the school’s office block that houses finance and departmental offices, two laboratories and destroyed school property worth millions of shillings.

The students’ grievances, neighbours say, was the school administration’s decision to bar them from watching a live English Premier League match between Arsenal Footfall Club and Manchester City Football Club that ended in a 1-1 draw.

The enraged students further destroyed all the classrooms, dormitories, the dining hall, conference cum entertainment hall, where they smashed window panes, fire extinguishers, computers and books.

Confirming the incident, Kericho County Director of Education, Julius Ngoneshi, said that the 1,400 students began rioting from 8pm wreaking extensive damage and bringing down the old administration block by burning it to ashes together with the ICT learning centre.

Ngoneshi, speaking to the press at the school, thanked the security personnel for quick action in containing and preventing the students from invading the neighbouring Litein Girls’ School.

During the incident, the students also raided the teachers’ quarters and looted property that included electronic devices. They also smashed down windowpanes of their teachers houses. However, the students left the school bus christened ‘Power House’ untouched.

The school has since been closed down indefinitely and students sent home until further notice. Ngoneshi said security officers and education officers held a meeting with the school Board of Management to assess the damage.

The county director said amongst the students’ grievances included the demand for a change of management in the school. He said they could not immediately quantify the cost of the destruction, but added it was in millions and added it would take long for the school to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.

“The board will meet this afternoon to deliberate on a back-to-school formular, we are giving priority to form-fours who have one month to sit for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations and recommend how repairs of the section of the school where the students will have their studies and accommodation,” Ngoneshi said.

This was the second time this year the students have gone on strike and the third occurrence under the current School Principal Richard Sang. The students in their grievances pointed at highhandedness on the leadership of the principal and called for his transfer from the Institution.

Problems started in the school after the former Principal Moses Ndeda, who was highly regarded by many as a transformative leader, took pride in his work and left a lasting impact on the school. During his tenure, performances was impressive and large numbers of students joined university during his tenure.

Among others who visited Litein High School included area Member of Parliament (MP) Kibet Komingoi, local leaders and parents.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Dominic Cheres