This archive report was first published on 11 January 2020.
On a day that was supposed to be a celebration for Lucy Muthoni, the mother of Peter Mbugua, she was instead planning her son's funeral. The 16-year-old had committed suicide on Thursday, January 9, 2020, after being denied admission to his preferred school, Mama Ngina High School in Rongai, Nakuru County.
According to Muthoni, the family could not afford the Sh40,000 required to send Mbugua to a boarding school, and instead opted for a local day school. However, Mbugua had scored 352 in the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, securing a place at Mama Ngina High School.
“The fees I was to pay for him at Mama Ngina Secondary was far above my ability. I told him I had to look for an alternative school where I would manage to ensure he was in class throughout,” said Muthoni.
Among the schools she suggested to her son was the nearby Kieni Secondary, which she would only be required to pay a lunch fee of Sh9,000. However, Mbugua was not pleased with the alternative and declined to be enrolled at the school.
On the day of his death, Muthoni returned home with an admission letter for her son at Kieni Secondary, but found him dangling from a rope in his room. The police have confirmed that the boy did not want admission to Kieni Secondary and that the family had already secured an alternative space for him.
