Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang'i has directed the arrest of Tot High School Principal following the banditry attack at school busses.
The attack, that happened in Kerio Valley in Elgeyo Marakwet county, left a driver dead, 13 students and two teachers injured.
Speaking on Friday during the assessment of the national exam preparedness in Nairobi, Matiang'i said the principal was negligent while allowing the school bus to operate past 6 pm.
"I agree with the Inspector General of Police that we will arrest that principal and he will be prosecuted for violation of public policy," he said.
Matiangi stated the attack should not have happened if the school policy was adhered to.
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"The attack we had on the school bus last night ought not to have happened in the first place. That school violated the school policy of moving children beyond 6 pm. The attack took place at 10:30," CS Matiang'i said.
Cabinet Secretary for Education George Magoha had also pointed a blaming finger at the school of the principal.
“The rule is that no bus should move beyond 6.30 period, and we must implement that rule. It doesn’t matter who is in it. If a bus is out beyond 6.30, it should go to the nearest police station and it should stay there," he said.
The 10 pm incident occurred along the Arror-Mogil road near Tot in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
The group of students was from an academic tour when the raid occurred.
They were in three busses belonging to the Tot Day School bus, the Kerio Valley School bus, and the Mogil school bus.
Magoha directed that schools should not operate past 6:30 pm and urged the police to intercept when such cases occur.
"We have to protect the lives of our children, because the deaths that have occurred, are careless and useless. It should not have happened.
"From my perspective, I have officers in the field…if we find out that school buses which have yellow colour…intercept them, it is better to have the children hungry overnight than dead," Magoha said.
