Parents of the 21 boys who died in the tragic fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in September 2024 have filed petitions at the Nyeri High Court, seeking compensation and demanding accountability from the school owners and the Ministry of Education.

Supported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Elimu Bora Working Group, the parents accuse the school and government officials of gross negligence and failure to protect the rights and lives of the children under their care.

“We are convinced that there was negligence, and that justice needs to be served. Someone must be held accountable because someone slept on the job,” said Mary Kambo, a labor rights and corporate accountability expert from KHRC.

The legal action comes just a week after families marked one year since the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 21 boarders at the school in Nyeri’s Kabati area.

– Timon Otieno