Teenagers have pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of murder as the High Court in Kibera opens a landmark trial over the horrific fire that claimed 16 lives at Utumishi Girls Academy. The proceedings have brought into sharp focus the harrowing reality of the incident, which remains one of the most significant tragedies to hit the Kenyan education sector in recent memory.
The eight defendants, all minors, appeared before Justice Diana Kavedza on 1 July to enter their pleas. Each girl denied the charges linked to the fire that tore through the private all-girls boarding school in Gilgil on 28 May. The blaze, which occurred approximately 69 miles north of Nairobi in the Great Rift Valley, resulted in 16 deaths and left another 79 students injured, triggering a national conversation about student welfare and the security of boarding facilities.
