This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
Published on November 6, 2019, a tense situation has been unfolding at Nyali Primary School in Mombasa, where parents and owners of the institution are calling for the immediate removal of the principal.
The school, owned by Mombasa Parents Club, attracts pupils from well-to-do families in the port city and charges fees of up to Sh55,000 per term. With a population of over 1000 pupils, parents claim the school has been mismanaged and want the principal, John Kombo, to exit.
They are particularly concerned about the purchase of two school buses, which they claim cost over Sh600,000, with allegations of diversion of funds during the acquisition. Parents also accuse the principal of playing down the bus scandal and other corruption allegations in the school.
Some parents have even claimed to have been asked for kickbacks when seeking admission for their children, despite the school belonging to them. 'Inflation of purchases, misuse of power, bribery, nepotism, taking 20pc from support staff salaries among other disturbing things are happening in the school yet we are prevented from holding an AGM by the board which is compromised,' a parent lamented.
The parents are also unhappy that their resolutions in previous AGMs are ignored by the principal, whom they claim runs the school like a personal property. They want a defilement case at the school involving a teacher revisited and investigated to assure the safety of pupils.
