Patrick Mathangani
9 April 2001
analysis
In Nyeri sexual abuse of girls abounds in schools.
Investigations by Blackboard reveal that many girls are forced into sexual relationship with teachers but suffer in silence for fear of victimisation if they reveal their tormentors.
The recent jailing of former Munaini Primary School teacher Fransico Ngumi Wachira for 28 years for defiling a minor by a Nyeri court was just the tip of an iceberg.
Pupils, teachers and parents tell of rampant cases of sexual abuse of girls by their male teachers in Nyeri District. The same situation prevails in other parts of the country, with high prevalence reported in Western, Nyanza and North Eastern provinces.
A survey by Juliana Omale of African Women and Child Media Network entitled "Tested to the Limit" and published in a book No Paradise Yet by Panos, details cases of sexual harassment in all learning institutions in every part of the country.
She says: "For example, at a primary school in the small farming town of Kitale, situated about 400 km north-west of Nairobi in the Rift Valley Province, a class eight pupil was made pregnant by her teacher. Sensing trouble, he obtained a large loan, most of which was used to pacify the father, who was also a teacher."
Besides the game of silence, it is difficult to get the actual statistical figures because many people do have concrete evidence and, therefore, talk in generalities.
The Central Provincial Director of Education, Mr Peter Macharia, who was hesitant to discuss the matter said: "I cannot discuss this with you. We do not have any statistics, (on sexual abuse of pupils) please contact the ministry headquarters."
Top ministry officials were not enthusiastic to discuss the matter either.
However, statistics by the Teachers Service Commission indicate that 70 teachers have been dismissed for defiling minors in the past two years.
Last year, 88 cases were reported. Out of these, nine were dismissed, six deregistered and two suspended. The others were still being investigated.
Cumulatively, 204 cases were reported in the last two years, according to TSC secretary Benjamin Sogomo.
Last year, Central Province had 10 reported cases of child defilement by teachers, Rift valley 32, Western 16, Nyanza 13, Coast eight, Eastern eight and North Eastern one.
Another problem is that investigating and taking action on the vice takes a long period of time.
For example, in the Othaya case, a teacher told the court that although she had learnt about the matter earlier on, she could not report the matter because regulations provides that only the headteacher and the deputy can do so.
The feeling among parents is that the Ministry of Education is not doing enough to curb the menace.
And they are calling on the Government to mete out stiffer penalties on culprits.
A Form Three student in a Nyeri school says: "We know of teachers having sexual affairs with students but we can't report for fear of victimisation."
The affairs are so common that they are taken for granted.
Indeed, during the trial of Wachira, a boy who allegedly caught him in the act told the court he could not report his teacher because he feared being beaten up.
Worse, even in cases where a child molester is known in a school, the matter is conveniently swept under the carpet. At best, the matter is discussed in private places.
A female teacher said such cases are often the cause of bickering in the staffroom. She says: "Sometimes it is hard to point a finger at anyone, as it is often claimed you want their positions. What if the case is never proved? Our hands are tied."
She said some girls are lured into sex by being promised marriage and lavish gifts. But many parents never get to know of these until the girls get pregnant.
In the Munaini Primary School case, the teacher had allegedly sexually molested mentally handicapped pupils for more than a year without the knowledge of parents. The parents are apparently too busy to give special attention to their children's sexual life. They cannot, therefore, be exonerated from blame.
A mother of one of the pupils, who was a victim of the teacher's devious design, said: "I did not suspect that anything had happened to my daughter. But some time in 1999, I had noticed a change in her walking style, but since she had not reported anything, I did'nt take the matter seriously."
"I feel if I had talked to her openly, she would have told me of her ordeal," added the mother.
If parents and teachers cannot detect this heinous injustice to their daughters, then the safety of children in school is under threat.
The mother said her daughter had "overwhelming fear" of her teachers that she could not say anything even after being issued with death threats. This means that teachers are not open and accessible to the children. She said teachers should change their attitude and be friendly to their pupils to create trust.
A headmaster of a school in Nyeri Municipality, who did not want to be named, said headteachers needed to cultivate a cordial relationship with their pupils and win their confidence so that they can report cases of sexual harassment. "This way, pupils will not regard their teachers as monsters,as is the case in many schools, and hence report to them any problem," he said.
Another parent criticised the inspectorate, which had failed to provide professional guidance to schools.
The headmistress of Munaini School, Ms Elizabeth Njani, said the teacher had been transferred from another school in the same division on suspicion of sexual abuse to children.
Even then, the law does not offer solutions when culprits are prosecuted as evidence of a minor (aged below 14 years) is not reliable in court. Section 124 of the Evidence Act Cap 80, says: "...the accused shall not be liable to be convicted on such evidence (of a child of tender age) unless it is corroborated by other material evidence in support thereof implicating him."
Yet it is this lot in Standard Six and Form Two, who fall prey to the molesters.
Last week, a deputy headmaster serving a four-year jail term for defiling his pupil was acquitted by the Nyeri High Court on appeal on grounds that the girl's evidence was not corroborated.
Although the girl had detailed how the teacher at Kahuro Primary School in Mathira Division defiled her in his office, he walked free because no one else saw the offence being committed.
The teacher had also been ordered to receive five strokes of the cane by a Karatina court for sexually assaulting the Standard Six pupil.
The onus is on headteachers and parents to be on the look out for cases of sexual harassment by, among others, talking openly with the children.
This way, pupils will communicate their problems to the school administration, and action taken before it is too late.
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