Anyone with Atwoli’s contacts?

By Mwalimu Andrew

When I faulted the appointment of Juma to head this school, it was not out of envy: I just didn’t believe he was the best candidate for the job.
Not when there were more qualified intellectuals around like myself. His inability to run a school of Mwisho wa Lami’s stature came out clearly last week.
It was not until towards the second week that we held our first meeting. Both Juma and his deputy Kwame are rare species in the school.
That day there was high drama. It all started last term, when Juma allowed many students to repeat Class Eight. If you remember, I opposed this but Juma overruled me.
And, despite the increase in the number of pupils, Juma did not increase the number of desks in the school. As a result, a desk that should accommodate three pupils had five.
The situation got worse this term when we received four more Class Eight pupils whom Juma had registered for KCPE without consulting me as the Director of Studies.
I sought a meeting with Kwame, the Deputy HM, over the matter. “Mwalimu, when will we get new desks in Class Seven and Eight?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “We have ordered new desks and they will arrive next week.” Madam Anita returned from maternity leave, and Madam Ruth was preparing to go on leave any time.
I am not an expert in these matters but from the looks of things, I suspect Madam Mary will join her in third term.

Laze around
The arrival of two new teachers, Rumona and Tito, and the return of Anita and the expected departure of Madam Ruth, meant changes in lesson allocations.
As a result, when we opened, all we did was to laze around the staffroom. But, last Wednesday afternoon, we all received an SMS from Kwame:
“HM has summoned an urgent staff meeting tomorrow at 8.00 a.m. in the morning. Urgenta: AOB, Lesson allocations, Schemes and Term 2 Strategic Vision.” Kwame had not been in school for three days.
I arrived in school very early and went to Class Eight for a dose of Kiswahili. When the pupils were all seated, there were several desks with five pupils each. They were struggling to write. I went called the Headmaster.
“Mr HM, the congestion in Class Eight does not offer students a serene academic environment,” I said.
“The school has no money. You will have to do with the little resources that we have available,” he said and disconnected the line.
I went back to class and called out the fifth pupil in every desk and led them into the staffroom where I asked them to pick up a chair each. We even took the HM’s and Deputy HM’s tables.
Teachers arrived in the staffroom to find no chairs. Mr Juma went straight to his office and came out immediately.
“Who took the table from my office?” he asked loudly. He then walked to the staffroom where he found most of the teachers standing. “And what is happening here, are you people exercising?”
“We found the chairs missing,” Kwame told the HM. Class Eight pupils laughed. I signaled them to keep quiet, and went ahead with the lesson.

Ignored him
I saw Mrs. Atika and Kwame at the door but chose to ignore them. Kwame knocked at the door but I ignored him too. Frustrated, they left me alone. The pupils laughed loudly and I continued teaching.
A minute after Kwame left, the HM stormed into the classroom. “Mwalimu Andrew! Are you the one who instructed the pupils to carry furniture away from the staffroom?”
“Yes, Mr Headmaster,” I said. “They had nowhere to sit.”
“What do you mean they had nowhere to sit? There are enough desks here!”
“They are few and five pupils can’t fit on one desk,” I answered.
“What do you mean? In our days we used to sit even six on one desk!”
“Mr Headmaster, these desks are too small!” I protested.
“Shut up, Mwalimu,” he shouted. “The pupils can even sit on the floor!”
At that point the Class Eight pupils booed him. “What! You are inciting students against me!” He then ordered the pupils who were sitting on chairs to return them to the staffroom. I left for the staff meeting.
Once everyone was seated, the HM came out of his office and called off the meeting. “Someone just spoilt my mood and now I have to deal with that,” he said and left the school.
That afternoon, Nyayo, the carpenter arrived at school and started making new desks. The same evening, I received a letter from the HM accusing me of insubordination and incitement. The letter was copied to the AEO, DEO and TSC.
I have ten10 days to respond or else further disciplinary action would be taken against me. I will not respond. But, to be safe, I need to be well prepared. Anyone with Atwoli’s contacts?