Administrators of the school where a Form One student died four years ago worked round the clock to defeat justice, it has now emerged.
On the eve of a “walk for justice” for Ebbie Noelle Samuels, who died in a dormitory in 2019, Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti seemed to suggest that he had finally cracked the case.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Mr Kinoti said Gatanga CCM Girls High School managers provided false information on what led to Ebbie’s death.
The DCI boss said statements issued by witnesses contradicted the administrators’ version of events.
The DCI, however, did not reveal what action it has taken against the suspect, even as some Kenyans accused it of being reactionary.
Mr Kinoti said the director of the homicide division took over the case on January 10.
He said evidence shows that Ebbie was assaulted by a senior staff member, who accused her of styling her hair, which was against school rules.
He said she was assaulted during evening classes or preps, minutes before the 9pm bell rang.
Ebbie retired to bed that night with severe pain.
That was the last time her classmates saw her alive and efforts to wake her up the following morning were futile.
The school had informed detectives that the “Form One student had fallen from her bed the night before her classmates noticed her motionless body”.
Hostile environment
He revealed that detectives had a hard time recording statements from students because of a hostile environment.
“(Detectives) found the school environment intimidating for the witnesses and opted to take their statements once the schools were closed, during the ongoing holiday,” the statement read.
The DCI is also investigating the school’s alleged efforts to defeat justice by providing information that contradicted recorded statements.
The statements were recorded by students at their homes in different parts of the country.
“Investigations are in advanced stages and it is only a matter of time before the perpetrators of Ebby’s killing are brought to book and held accountable for their actions,” Mr Kinoti said.
He also pledged that anyone willing to provide more information will be protected and their identities kept secret.
The school changed its name from Gatanga CCM Girls High School to St Anuarite Gatanga Girls School.
Mr Kinoti’s revelation came as activists prepared to stage a walk on Thursday, April 7, from the Jeevanjee Gardens to the office of the President to call for justice for Ebbie.
Speaking to Nation.Africa, Ms Martha Wanjiru, the mother of Ebby, who would have sat her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) this year, said the walk was meant to make the public aware of the pain that the family has endured in the last three years.
Confirmed
“Many people have confirmed that they will be attending the walk. My daughter, just like any other child in school, did not deserve to die in such a manner,” she said.
The activists called on members of the public to dress in pink and join them in the walk.
“Please wear pink and come with a poster. It is our children’s right to be protected,” the message read, adding that those who join in the walk should arrive at the Jeevanjee Gardens by 8am.
Central Police Station OCPD David Mburukwa said the police were aware of the planned walk and would provide security.
“Yes, we are aware of the planned walk and we shall provide security since they already informed us of their plans,” he said, adding that he expected the event to be peaceful.
The late Ebbie Noelle Samuels.
Mr Mburukwa also warned members of the public who might be planning to take advantage of the walk to cause chaos that they will be dealt with according to the law.
Despite three autopsies carried out by three pathologists – one each for the government, the school and the family – showing that Ebbie, 15, died from a head injury inflicted by a blunt object, the family does not know what exactly happened before she died.
Received a call
Ms Wanjiru told the media last week that she had received a call from the principal of the school in Murang’a County informing her that her daughter was unwell and that she should rush to Naidu Hospital in Thika.
The principal directed her to go to the hospital alone.
“On arriving at the hospital at about 9.35am, I found my daughter’s lifeless, ice-cold body with a swollen tummy. She also had foam in her nostrils,” she said.
“On inquiring about what had happened, the principal told me that my daughter had gone to sleep the previous night but failed to wake up in the morning.”
Ms Wanjiru said that she had initially been told that her daughter had complained of chest pains to the school’s deputy principal, who ignored her.
She had also been told that her daughter had participated in a cross-country race the previous day and finished among the top 10.
The hospital noted that it had received a dead body. BY DAILY NATION