Wilfred Muchire
2 September 2005
Nairobi — Mr John Wachira Ndiang'ui's three sons completed secondary school five years ago. This would be a joy for most parents, but not for Mr Ndiang'ui.
As the third school term begins next week, the 65-year-old Nyeri man is apprehensive. Instead of being happy that his children have gone through school, he is fearful of what the new term might bring.
Mathakwaini Secondary School, barely 20 metres from his home, sends shivers down Mr Ndiang'ui's spine. This is the school that led him to languish in prison between January 14 and February 11.
In a rare occurrence for a public school, the father of five committed himself to pay his sons' fees balance of Sh26,805 by mid 2002. The boys -- Kanyugo, Ndung'u and Githinji -- were students at Mathakwaini between 1992 and 2000.
They went through school despite owing fees after their father agreed to pay even after they left.
On May 27, 2002, the school's board of governors, chaired by Mr John Nderitu Ngari, hired lawyer Kebuka Wachira to pursue the debt alongside several others.
Two months later, Mr Wachira wrote to the old man demanding immediate payment , plus Sh3,257 debt collection charges.
When he failed to respond to the demand letter, the lawyer went to court a filed a case against him.
Following numerous adjournments, the court eventually issued a warrant for Mr Ndiang'ui's arrest.
He, again, committed himself to paying Sh5,000 a month, but was unable to make even the first instalment.
30 days behind bars
On January 14, he was taken before Nyeri senior resident magistrate Elizabeth Osoro and committed to 30 days in civil jail.
By then, the amount had increased from Sh26,805 to Sh45,735. He was taken back to court on February 10.
Since he had not paid anything, the lawyer asked that he be sent back to jail for another 30 days.
The old man said he could only pay Sh500 a month, but the court rejected it as unrealistic since it would take more than 90 months to clear the debt.
The old man was committed to civil jail. However, the school failed to pay the Sh1,800 required by the court for the sentence to take effect and he has since been a free man.
But his luck could run out anytime - and the school's lawyer has made sure he knows this. Last month, they sent a "stranger" to take him a letter, reminding him to pay up or go to prison.
The letter gave him seven days to clear the debt, now Sh48,000.
It explains that he was not committed to civil jail for the second time although the court issued the orders, "because we thought that the period you have been committed was enough to make you realise the need to pay up".
It continues: "Since the orders that committed you to civil jail are still in force, we are giving you seven days from the date hereof to pay up or be committed to civil jail once again."
Mr Ndiang'ui has been having sleepless nights and only awaits the day when police will knock on his door with an order to take him to prison.
For him and several other parents, what they had welcomed as an innovative arrangement to allow poor parents see their children through school has turned into a living nightmare.
Mr Ndiang'ui says he cannot settle the debt because he has no money.
His family lives on less than half an acre near Mathakwaini shopping centre.
He says that although coffee fetched good money, his 50 bushes do not yield enough to make a difference in his life.
When the Nation visited the school, its principal, At the school, Mr Cyrus Karoki Waiganjo, the principal, denied accusations that he had instigated the jailing of fees defaulters.
He said the decision to sue parents was taken when some started abusing the fees scheme meant to benefit students from needy families.
In the scheme, a parent pays what they can afford on condition the balance is eventually paid.
Mr Waiganjo said parents were given a two-year grace period after their children finished Form Four.
Students are allowed to collect their examination result slips, certificates and other documents, but they have to swear an affidavit to clear the balance.
But, the principal said, many parents did not pay up. As a result, past students owed the school Sh1.2 million.
Now scores of parents who owe the school between Sh3,000 and Sh22,000 are lined up to be sued and might be sent to civil jail. These are mostly parents whose children completed Form Four between 2000 and 2002.
Mr Waiganjo, 54, who has been at the school for the last 20 years, 16 as headmaster, said that late last year, another parent, Mr James Wabiru, was committed to jail for failing to pay Sh11,000. His daughter, Lydia, completed school in 1999.
The principal conceded that his school's way of recovering fees balance was unusual, but said they were being guided by the Education Act that gives such powers to the board of governors.
He said members of the board, on which the principal sits as the secretary, are allowed to sue and be sued.
The principal said that two weeks ago, he wrote demand letters to 10 defaulting parents. They owe about Sh500,000.
He gave the example of one with a Sh20,000 debt since 1995. Since a Nyeri court issued an arrest warrant for the parent, he is said to have avoided his rural home, says Mr Waiganjo.
The school's debt-collection method has generated mixed reactions. Usually, schools try to ensure fees balances are kept to a minimum by sending home students with big debts. Others retain results slips and other documents until outstanding fees are cleared.
Former student Bethel Gatheru Githinji, for instance, sat his examinations last year and scored a B-. He says he owes his success to Tthe school's unique programme.
He now hopes to join Kenya Polytechnic for an civil engineering course and wants other parents whose children have left school to settle their debts so that others may benefit.
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