A form four student in a secondary school in Mwala Sub County is seeking protection from the ministry of education following alleged sexual harassment by the principal.
The girl has accused the principal of Kitile Secondary School, Simon Kimatu of persistently making sexual advances to her and even impregnating one of her classmates.
Speaking over the phone during a live show on Radio Maisha, the student expressed her frustrations over the principal’s immoral behavior who she also accused of having threatened her if she disclosed the matter.
“It all started when I transferred to the school last year. My dad, who is a preacher, enrolled me to the school since he was close to the principal, who also happens to be a pastor,” the student said.
The girl narrates how her father once hooked her up with the principal for a car ride to school after which the principal started touching her breasts along the way.
“Along the way, he started making advances to me. He touched my breasts and even attempted to touch my private parts but I resisted. He promised he would do anything I wanted including giving me money,” the girl said.
She added that the principal, on arriving at the school flashed out sh 500 to her, which she also declined to accept.
According to the student, her mother had tried unsuccessfully to convince her father to have the matter dealt with. “When I informed my mother about it, she got very stressed because my father did not cooperate in having the matter pursued. She only asked me to be careful since could not do anything about it,” she said.
The girl explains that following several unsuccessful attempts by the principal to sleep with her, the principal had now turned against her and vowed to make her life very difficult at school.
Asked about if she had documented any evidence about her claims, the girl said there were several text messages the principal had been sending her, but unfortunately her phone got lost.
“I am sure Safaricom can help in retrieving the information because my handset got lost,” she said.
In a recent episode, the girl claimed she declined to heed to the principal’s demands for her to accompany him to Mombasa for the annual national principal’s conference.
“I do not feel secure in this school anymore. And I am not the only victim, he has impregnated a form four girl and I am very much scared of going back to that school,” she said weeping in despair.
The girl’s emotional interview on radio caught the attention of Machakos County Teachers Service Commission (TSC) director, David Mukui who last Friday dispatched a team of officers to the school to probe the matter.
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“We have already called the principal and he has given me a briefing about the matter. He has indicated there are about five girls who had not yet reported to the school and I have asked him to follow up about their whereabouts,” said Mukui.
Mwala sub county TSC director, Lydia Njake on Friday led a team of officers to the school where they questioned the principal, teachers and students with a view to compiling a report relating to the matter.
“We have walked around the school and talked with students, teachers and the principal. We will soon compile a report which we will hand-over to the director for further action,” said Ms Njake.
However, the principal, Mr Kimatu termed the allegations false and instead blamed a former teacher, a Mr Momanyi whom they had differed for engineering his tribulations.
“That teacher had also claimed I took his wife and I can’t engage in such things. I am a pastor and a staunch Christian,” he said.
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