This archive report was first published on 27 September 2019.
On Thursday, September 26, 2019, Moses Wainaina, the proprietor of Precious Talents School, was arrested in connection with the collapse of a building that left eight pupils dead and 64 others injured.
Wainaina spent the night at the Kabete Police Station before being arraigned the following day.
Before his arrest, the government had shut down the school and directed the pupils to be transferred to other institutions, including Ngong Forest Primary School, Jamhuri Primary School, and Riruta Satellite Primary School.
Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha explained that the closure was a result of recommendations from a task force that was set up to investigate the safety of the pupils after the tragedy.
The school had been registered to admit only 340 learners, but the number had ballooned to over 800, violating the guidelines set for the school.
Magoha noted that the high enrollment and lack of safe physical facilities, as well as non-compliance with qualified teaching staff and sanitation facilities, rendered the school's registration facility null and void.
Magoha had visited the school on Monday, September 23, 2019, and noted that the other classrooms were in stable condition, but expressed concern over the unauthorized construction of an additional storey on a temporary structure.
