A view of Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri.
The first thing that strikes a visitor to Endarasha village in Nyeri County is the freezing cold that assaults the senses.
The weather was no different on the night of September 5 when rescuers braved an incessant drizzle as they frantically attempted to rescue children from a burning dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy.
It was no different the following day as anxious parents, residents and government officials jammed the school in search of answers that nobody seemed to have. They talked in low tones with some quietly sobbing while others stared blankly with unspoken grief written all over their faces.
The cold reality was slowly sinking that 18 children had been confirmed dead while at least 14 were admitted to hospital with hundreds more left traumatised.
The village had made it to global news headlines in the most tragic of circumstances.
Endarasha is located in a high altitude agricultural area with the 49-kilometre drive from Nyeri town an ascent to the world-famous Aberdare Ranges.
Read: ‘We tried our best to save them’: Rescuers, relatives' horrors in Hillside Endarasha fire tragedy
To access the village, one takes a 37-kilometre drive on a tarmac road, then another 12 kilometres on a rough road.
The main crops grown in the area are onions, cabbages, carrots and Irish potatoes among other subsistence fresh produce on the cascading rolling hills with a panoramic view fit for a postcard.
Most of this produce is sold at Kewara Market, which is open seven days a week, and is a magnet for traders from across the country.
“Kewara is the main market for onions and buyers come from as far as Mombasa to buy the produce,” says Samuel Karanja, a resident.
East Africa Legislative Assembly MP Kanini Kega, who represented the area for two terms between 2013 and 2022 as Kieni Constituency legislator is a son of the soil. The current MP is Njoroge Wanaina.
For the residents, the Hillside Academy tragedy brought memories of another school fire incident. Just 12 kilometres from the primary school is Endarasha Boys High School, where two Form One students tragically lost their lives 14 years ago.
On the night of October 17, 2010, a fire engulfed Wambugu dormitory, claiming the lives of Kennedy Karugu and Joseph Mwangi. Many others were injured and detectives pursued arson investigations.
In the aftermath of the incident, 13 students and a businessman were charged with murder and brought before a Nyeri Court.
However, in 2020 they were acquitted after the court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Justice Jairus Ngaah, who presided over the case, noted that the investigating officer relied on circumstantial evidence to implicate the accused.
He further criticised the police for conducting a flawed investigation, with insufficient evidence to support the charges. During the trial, it was revealed that the police failed to record two crucial confessions.
Justice Ngaah said that none of the witnesses testified to seeing the accused commit the crime. The only evidence presented was that they were seen entering and exiting the dormitory on the day of the fire.
The judge also pointed out that the investigation primarily relied on reports from the school principal and teachers.
The school administration had asked students to write anonymous notes, and from more than 1,000 submissions, nine names were mentioned repeatedly. However, none of these anonymous notes were presented as evidence during the trial.
The case may have ended but it did not seem to have brought closure to the village as many of those who spoke to Nation Africa on Saturday still recalled that day 14 years ago.
Now another strategy has struck. Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu says the investigation is just starting and there is so far very little information on what could have caused the fire in the primary school that tragic night.
Asked whether the safety measures were adhered to in accommodating 156 learners in the dormitory, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba says this was part of the information that was being sought in the investigations.
"We have rules and regulations that govern these operations and should they have been breached in this case action will be taken. However, it is high time we relooked at the rules so that they become laws and whoever flouts them will be held to account and penalties imposed,” Mr Ogamba said.
The CS said his ministry would also revive the conversation on whether or not boarding schools were still viable. But for those who call Endarasha home and for shocked relatives and friends of the victims, the only conversation they want now is: What went wrong and why in this school that had become the centrepiece of the community?
