All boarding schools in Gatundu South, Kiambu County, have been ordered to close indefinitely after a spate of torching left several dormitories and facilities in ruins.
At least four institutions were affected within a single week, raising concerns over student safety and the escalating destruction of school property.
Confirming the directive, Gatundu South Member of Parliament Gabriel Kagombe said the decision was reached after consultations with education stakeholders and security agencies.
He explained that the move would allow investigators to establish who is behind the coordinated attacks and prevent further losses.
According to the lawmaker, one of the key areas under investigation is social media, where students and other perpetrators are allegedly sharing coded messages on how to coordinate the school torching.
“We have had many challenges in Gatundu, and we reached a consensus to close all the schools to reset and investigate. Intelligence leads have pointed to a social media web where students use computer labs to spread information on how to torch schools,” Kagombe stated.
The legislator added that the timing of the closure was deliberate, noting that weekends posed a heightened risk since fewer teachers were present to monitor student activities. “We took the decision over the weekend because we realised students can take advantage of the reduced supervision,” he remarked.
Education officials and security agencies are now expected to intensify investigations as parents and community leaders call for investigations and immediate resumption of learning, raising concerns that the upcoming national examinations might be negatively impacted.
“This is seriously going to impact us, together with the learners. I have a candidate, and we were shocked to get SMS notifications alerting us to go pick up our children by 10am,” Penina Mburu, a parent, narrated.
“There are dormitories, student boxes, and other amenities that have been torched; this, therefore, calls for swift investigations.”
Meanwhile, the third term for basic education commenced on Monday, August 25, 2025, and will run until Friday, October 24, 2025, amounting to a total of nine weeks of learning.
Notably, this is the shortest academic term of the year, but it is arguably the most important, as it is the term when candidates sit for their national assessments.
Two holidays fall within the Term 3 bracket, and these include Mazingira Day, which will be observed on Friday, October 10, and Mashujaa Day, which falls on Monday, October 20, 2025.
