The ongoing public inquest regarding the tragic fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy dormitory, which resulted in the deaths of 21 boys on September 5, 2024, revealed that the two dorms were not equipped with CCTV cameras.
During the proceedings that resumed on Monday, Senior Resident Magistrate Mary Gituma heard testimony from James Githinji, a CCTV installer. He explained that the cameras in the school only recorded activity at the entrances of the gates leading to the boys’ and girls’ dormitories.
Githinji noted that the CCTV system had been serviced just five days before the fire. The school director, David Kinyua, had hired him to maintain 11 CCTV cameras across the premises, but he found that the image quality of five cameras was poor and replaced them.
With seven years of experience, Githinji detailed his work, stating that he installed a new Digital Video Recorder (DVR)—which is essential for capturing and storing video footage—from the CCTV cameras. He also connected a surveillance monitor in the Director’s office to the power supply.
He described, “One of the cameras I mounted pointed at the main gate, another at the kitchen, and another at the gates to the dormitories. I also set up a camera inside the Director’s office and another facing the windows of both the office and nearby classrooms.” Githinji added that the Director mentioned the remaining cameras would be replaced gradually during school vacations.
He confirmed that when he left the school on August 30, all cameras and the DVR were operational, and monitoring was possible from the Director’s office. The next time he heard about the school was five days later—it was a call from a local customer informing him of the fire. When he arrived, the fire had already been extinguished.
Upon inspecting the site, Githinji found that only one of the newly installed cameras had been damaged, having reportedly been affected by the fire engine as it responded. “I reached the school at 4 AM, and upon my arrival, the fire was out and the power had been cut. Employees told me it was switched off at the onset of the fire. I found one camera near the assembly area, opposite the Director’s office, had been tampered with—the cable was cut, and the camera was facing downwards. The other four cameras were unaffected,” he recounted.
The inquest aims to reconstruct the events surrounding the tragic incident, which occurred just two days after the school reopened for the Third Term. The fire is said to have ignited between 10 PM and 11 PM that Thursday night.
During the proceedings earlier this year, Dr. Grace Atieno, the pathologist who performed the autopsies, revealed that the boys had inhaled lethal levels of carbon monoxide and sustained severe burns covering 74-100 percent of their bodies. She indicated that their organs—such as the lungs, liver, and kidneys—were severely charred, and some victims suffered extensive brain damage due to the fire.
This conclusion was further supported by testimony from Dennis Owino, an analyst from the Government Chemist, who confirmed the presence of carboxyhaemoglobin in the blood of all 21 boys. He explained, “This shows they inhaled carbon monoxide before their deaths, which may have played a role. No other toxic substances were identified in the post-mortem analysis.”
Meanwhile, the prosecution has requested the court to summon four experts, including the former head of the Energy, Petroleum and Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Daniel Bargoria, to provide testimony in the inquest. The other three include an engineer from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), another analyst from the Government Chemist, and a solar technician.
- State Prosecutor Claudette Obat mentioned that five experts were expected to testify, but only one was present in court during this session. She explained, “The investigating officer received word from KPLC that one witness was unwell. On the 24th, the IO learned from EPRA that the witnesses had scheduling conflicts. However, the solar technician communicated that he was unavailable due to taking his child to school, and the government chemist is currently on leave. Thus, we have the CCTV specialist who is here today,” Obat stated.
The inquest is set to continue tomorrow, April 28, with four additional witnesses scheduled to give their accounts.