Growing violence in our culture calls for national soul searching
Members of the Kenya Red Cross walk towards the ruins of a burnt dormitory at the Utumishi Girls' Academy Senior School following an overnight fire at the facility in Gilgil, Nakuru county, Kenya on May 28, 2026.
Student protests are common across the globe. The formula in most school protests include refusing to attend classes, picketing the school administration, walking out of school, demonstrating or petitioning government officials.
However in Kenya, school protests have taken a ‘scorched earth’ dimension. Libraries, dormitories or schools are set ablaze. Often, as happened recently at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, there is a deliberate intention to cause injuries and deaths.
