Eight Utumishi Girls students deny 16 murder counts

Kibera High Court Judge Diana Kavedza. [David Gichuru, Standard]

Eight students from Utumishi Girls Academy have pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of murder over a dormitory fire that killed 16 schoolmates on the night of May 28.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has opposed the release of the students on bail or bond, urging the High Court to keep them in custody pending trial.

Justice Diana Kavedza of the Kibera High Court has also barred publication of the identities of the accused, who are minors, along with those of their parents, guardians and immediate family members.

The court also prohibited photography, filming, audio recording and live-streaming of the proceedings without prior approval.

Under the orders, accredited media may report on the case but must not publish the students' names, initials, photographs, voice recordings, school admission numbers, residential addresses or physical descriptions, or any detail capable of identifying them directly or indirectly.

The plea followed a mental fitness assessment ordered by the court on June 26, after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) approved the 16 murder counts against the students on June 23.

Three psychiatrists examined the minors and found them fit to stand trial.

The case had been in limbo since the students first appeared before the court on June 26, when Kavedza ruled they could not be called upon to plead until their mental status and ages were established, given the gravity of the charges and the potential penalty of death or life imprisonment upon conviction.

The eight, who are held at the Kabete Juvenile Remand Home, were transferred from Naivasha to Nairobi for security reasons after public hostility built up around the case in Nakuru.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage examined by detectives allegedly showed some of the accused moving through the dormitory's first-floor cubicles shortly before the blaze broke out, according to earlier reporting on the investigation.

The fire tore through a two-storey dormitory housing 220 students, killing 16 and injuring 79 others.

The tragedy, one of Kenya's deadliest school disasters in recent years, has renewed scrutiny of fire-safety standards in boarding schools nationwide, with some stakeholders calling for a review of the dormitory model altogether.

Additional reporting by Nancy Gitonga and Grace Ng’ang’a.