This archive report was first published on 23 September 2019.
As the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam approaches, five Form Four candidates at Anin Girls Secondary School in Elgeyo Marakwet County are yet to resume learning after being suspended indefinitely on June 25, 2019.
The students, who were accused of being devil worshippers, claim the allegations were made by a school chaplain during a Christian Religious Education (CRE) lesson on June 24, 2019. The chaplain reportedly informed the school principal, Esther Kibor, who then suspended the students the following day.
According to one of the affected students, the chaplain made the shocking allegations, which the school has failed to prove. The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were summoned to a disciplinary meeting attended by their parents but were directed to go home and wait for a response from the school.
“The chaplain came to our class and said that some two or three students were devil worshippers. I thought it was a joke. I never knew I was the target of the weird remarks,” the candidate said.
Another student claimed that their textbooks had been confiscated, making it difficult for them to prepare for the exam. “The school withheld our books. It later released our exercise books but withheld textbooks given by the Ministry of Education earlier in the year,” she said.
When contacted, Ms Kibor declined to comment and disowned the students, saying she was not aware of such candidates in her institution. However, school Board of Management chairman Andrew Kipchoge said he was aware of the matter, noting that the students were found with paraphernalia associated with Illuminati.
“The students appeared before a disciplinary committee and confessed, in the presence of their parents, that they were devil worshippers,” the board chair said. He claimed some of the students sent threatening text messages to some teachers, including the school chaplain, and the matter was referred to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
