People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua
A High Court order, an absent police commander, and a mob with stones — the Mukuru confrontation raises questions that go well beyond one school
By MKT Reporter
People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua yesterday condemned an attack on her convoy at Gatoto Community Primary School in Mukuru kwa Reuben, accusing police of abandoning their duty to enforce a High Court order directing the peaceful handover of the school to its lawful Board of Directors.
Karua had accompanied the board to oversee the implementation of a ruling by Justice Gregory Mutai, issued on June 25, which directed that the school’s ownership and management be restored to the petitioning board, with the Officer Commanding Mukuru kwa Reuben Police Station required to provide security during the exercise. What followed, she said, was a sequence of institutional failures and physical violence.
When the group arrived at the police station, the OCS was absent and his deputy declined to deploy officers, stating that only the OCS could authorise the assignment. The board proceeded to the school regardless, only to find the gates locked. Minutes after the media arrived, the situation deteriorated sharply. Stones were hurled at board members’ vehicles, forcing those present to flee. As Karua’s vehicle departed, an individual armed with a club smashed its rear windscreen.
Law Society of Kenya president Charles Kanjama, who was also present, was among those forced to leave hurriedly as the crowd surged.
“Today’s events are not merely about Gatoto Primary School. They raise a broader national question about whether Kenyans can continue to rely on public institutions to enforce court decisions impartially and protect those exercising their constitutional rights,” Karua said.
The dispute has its roots in a community that established Gatoto in the 1980s to serve children in one of Nairobi’s most densely populated informal settlements. Residents and their lawyers have questioned how individuals could claim ownership in 2026 of a school with a root title dating to the 1980s. A section of parents has filed a notice of appeal, arguing that privatisation would price out the very families the school was built to serve.
Karua called for immediate investigations into both the attack and the police failure, demanding accountability for anyone found responsible through direct involvement, negligence, or abuse of office.
When a court order means nothing on the ground, the rule of law means nothing at all.
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