Nyeri, Kenya – Families of 21 boys who perished in the Endarasha school fire have filed a constitutional petition against the government and Hillside Endarasha Academy, accusing them of negligence and failure to protect the children’s right to life.
The petition, lodged at the High Court in Nyeri, names the school, its proprietors, the Ministry of Education, the Attorney-General, and other education authorities as respondents. It is backed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Elimu Bora Working Group (EBWG).
“Families of 21 boys who died in the Endarasha fire, backed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and Elimu Bora Working Group, have sued the state and school for failing to protect their children’s lives,” KHRC said in a statement.
According to the petition, the boys, aged 10 to 14, died in a wooden dormitory that lacked basic fire safety standards, including alarms, extinguishers, and emergency exits. Families argue the tragedy was preventable had the state enforced safety regulations.
“The heaviest caskets are the smallest, the tragedy was preventable and stemmed from the state’s failure to enforce safety standards in schools,” the petition reads.
Petitioners also accuse authorities of compounding their suffering through psychological torment, saying they were given little information, denied a choice of mortuaries, and forced into mass burials dictated by the state.
They are seeking a declaration that the government failed in its duty of care, a public release of investigation reports, and a mandatory nationwide safety audit of boarding schools. They also want the school proprietors and education officials to be held directly accountable.
The Hillside Endarasha fire broke out on the night of September 5, destroying the boys’ dormitory and killing 21 students. Preliminary investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) flagged inconsistencies in construction materials used, the absence of the dormitory matron, who had been involved in an accident that night, and possible interference with the school’s power supply.
“Two of the five boys admitted succumbed to injuries. Nineteen bodies were recovered from the razed dormitory, bringing the total number of deaths to 21,” the DCI said in a September 11 statement.
The High Court is now set to decide whether the state and the school failed in their duty of care, a ruling that could set a precedent for school safety enforcement across Kenya.
