A school owned by retired President Moi has lost its bid to stay orders requiring it to readmit five students expelled for alleged gross indiscipline.
High court judge Abigail Mshila on Friday said children stood to suffer more and directed that Sacho high school must ensure the four boys and a girl get the best quality of education possible.
Lady Justice Mshila made the order when she declined Sacho high school a stay of execution pending appeal saying the school would suffer less than denying children their basic right to education as guaranteed in the constitution.
At the same time, the judge reaffirmed her earlier position that a sixth student’s parents be paid Sh150,000 as compensation following the expulsion that saw them transfer their child to another school.
Earlier, lawyer Leina Morintat for the private school urged the court to stay its decision saying they planned to lodge an appeal over the court’s ruling that the five be readmitted forthwith as their expulsion was illegal and against the best interests of the children.
Mr Morintat said that the school authorities feared that their readmission could not only render their appeal nugatory but would also disable the school’s right to discipline errant students thereby sending a bad example to the entire school community.
But lawyer Paul Amuga, for the children’s parents, opposed the application saying the school had come to court with tainted hands to seek a relief even after failing to obey court orders. He said a greater risk lay on denying the children the right to education even after paying the required over Sh 80,000 per term fee.
He said that Sacho high school was setting a bad precedent for other schools where they would start expelling students even after it was banned and children’s rights made a key tenet in the constitution.
The school proposed that the five be re-admitted as day scholars but Mr Abuga said the same was not tenable since Sacho was located in a forested area where the nearest trading centre was Kabarnet town, situated 20 kilometres away.
Last week, the judge ordered for the students’ re-admission and that Sh 150,000 be paid out to a sixth student who was forced to transfer following their expulsion over an indiscipline matter on March 21.
But the school defied the order and instead filed an application seeking a stay of execution saying it had a right to appeal against the decision that would make it suffer irreparable loss.