A section of parents from Ngomeni secondary school have dismissed claims that the school is being mismanaged by the Principal Twaha Mwatsahu.The parents allied to Mwatsahu said there was a tycoon sponsoring over 300 students at the school who is causing the wrangles which to them were uncalled for as the institution was doing well under the principal’s leadership.
Last week another group of parents went to raise complaints at the Kilifi county Commissioner’s office demanding the immediate transfer of the principal for allegedly managing the institution like his family affair. They later called a press conference and expressed their dissatisfaction with Twaha claiming that he had appointed a committee without engaging all parents so as to get a chairman and members who are friendly to him. Twaha dismissed the allegations that he was mismanaging the institution but declined to comment further claiming the matter was being handled by his senior.
The parents supporting the principal said the issues must be addressed amicably and called on the government to intervene so that the principal can work peacefully. Ahmed Amin Farouk Chairman Parents Association Ngomeni On Day school said those who went to the media to demand transfer of Twaha were dishonest as records of the school were straight and positive.
Speaking at the school, he said when the principal was posted in Ngomeni the school had only 90 students but due to his efforts the number has risen to over 650 adding that there has been a tremendous development of infrastructure.“They said performance has dropped since Twaha took over but its wrong to talk without facts just talking alone is not enough,” he said.
Farouk said in 2017 the school had 2.52 percent mean score while in 2018 the mean score rose to 2.90. In 2019 the school had a mean score of 2.953 followed by 3.186 in 2020 which has made students to get Bs. Charo Chea Karege a parent said those spreading the allegations should come clear to the school and give their evidence. He said the problem is between the principal and an individual adding that their differences should be resolved outside and not at the school. “On the issue of the committee, we made the decision unanimously and there were over 200 parents present so it’s the parents to state that the committee should be removed but not an individual,” he said.
Ustadh Kassim an elder Ngomeni said the problem is caused by the tycoon who he claimed wanted to control the management because he is sponsoring students and is using some parents to create wrangles. Kassim said the tycoon had relocated from Ngomeni but is now back and is engineering conflicts at the secondary school. “The tycoon is using his money, we do not know where he gets the money from to cause wrangles at the school,” he said.
In a quick rejoinder, Mshamu dismissed the parents who were criticizing him saying the majority had no students at the school and were being used to paint a positive picture of the principal. Omar Mshamu the alleged tycoon said he is a sponsor of four primary schools in the area including Ras, Milimani, Garite, Ngomeni primary, and Secondary adding that this year alone he paid over Sh. 4.6 million at the school as fees, buildings, food for students, and many other forms of support.
Mshamu said the principal has been running the school like private property and their efforts to resolve the issues amicably with parents has been unsuccessful as the school head was always slippery. He said they raised the concern to the Sub County Director Of Education but still, the matter has not been resolved. “I would like to call upon the security organs to intervene,ethics and Anti-corruption commission, Ombudsman, Directorate of criminal investigation to intervene and even the office of the Director of Public Prosecution should also intervene and investigate the matter for the truth is known,’ he said.
Mshamu said as parents they are not allowed to question anything regarding the management of the school in terms of records of accounts. He said they tried to ask a BQ of the building of dormitory project, and the committee for the projects at the school which he does not give adding that he has evidence on everything that the principal was doing. To him and the parents, their major interest is the school to develop students to perform well so that it can produce professionals like doctors,engineers among others.