There is a particular kind of horror that clings to a school fire. It is not just the flames, but the betrayal of a place meant for safety. Yesterday, that horror touched Kenya, where eight students have been arrested in connection with a deadly arson at a secondary school. The blaze, which broke out in the early hours, claimed the lives of several pupils and has sent shockwaves through the community. As details emerge, the UK government has issued a travel warning for families, advising caution for those with children in Kenyan boarding schools.
This is not just a crime report. This is a story about the fragile trust we place in institutions. For Kenyan families, boarding schools are often seen as a pathway to opportunity. For expatriate families, they represent a familiar structure in unfamiliar soil. Now, that trust has been shattered. The eight students arrested are young, and the question on every lip is: how did it come to this? The authorities speak of a disciplinary dispute, but that feels like a thin explanation for a fire that consumed lives.
On the ground, parents are converging on the school gates. Some are weeping. Others are silent, clutching phones that may or may not ring with news. The air smells of smoke and panic. One mother tells me her daughter called at 3am, saying the dormitory was on fire. The line went dead. She has not heard from her since.
The UK travel warning, meanwhile, adds a layer of geopolitical anxiety. It is a quiet signal that something is broken, not just in this school but perhaps in the system that governs it. For British families living in Kenya, the warning forces a cruel calculation: stay or go? How do you explain to a child that their school is no longer safe?
This fire will have a long tail. It will spark debates about school discipline, about youth violence, about the adequacy of safety regulations. But for now, it is a human tragedy, one that reminds us how quickly the ordinary can turn to ash. We watch, we wait, and we hope that the next call brings not bad news but a voice, however shaky, saying: I am alive.
