Night guard killed during robbery at Harambee Khalsa Comprehensive School

The community and members of the Harambee Khalsa Comprehensive School fraternity woke up to a shocking news of the murder of the school’s security guard during a robbery incident on Wednesday night

The body of the guard Josephat Amita Onyango was found lying in one of the classrooms on Thursday morning.

Intruders are believed to have gained access to the compound overnight, killed the night guard before breaking into the administration offices.

According to the school’s Board Chair, Harry Douglas Bosire, he was alerted by one of the support staff in the morning about the incident.

He explains that the said worker arrived to find the main gate closed, jumped over the fence, and discovered that the offices had been broken into.

“The watchman was later found murdered and his body abandoned in one of the classrooms,” he says, terming the incident a major shock to the school.

Bosire says police have already secured the scene and urges police to move swiftly and apprehend the culprits.

He, however, declines to comment on the decision to send learners home, stating it is an administrative matter that will be addressed later, and adds that students will be recalled once the situation stabilizes.

While speaking to the media, Amita’s family says they grew worried after he failed to return home as he normally does every morning.

Dennis Simiyu Onyango says his father usually comes home in the evening, eats supper, and leaves for his work, returning between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning before heading out for the day’s casual jobs.

“Today he did not return, and his phone was off, which was odd because he has never been unreachable before,” he says.

Simiyu adds that both he and his sister had received suspicious calls from unfamiliar numbers offering them work and later asking the sister to meet at Harambee Khalsa.

He describes his father as a hardworking man who’s always supported their family, saying, “He has stood with me through school until I graduated. He pays my brother’s fees at Kenyatta University. Whenever I lacked something, he was the one I turned to, and now I don’t know whom to turn to anymore. I don’t know what he could have done to deserve this.”

At the school, parents gathered anxiously after hearing news of the killing.

Geofrrey Ondare, a parent, questions why such a large institution had only one security officer on duty. He says the school must urgently review its security arrangements.

“Khalsa Comprehensive is not a small school; it is huge. How can there be only one security officer for the whole school?” he asks.

Ondare calls on the management to relocate the main gate, install security lighting along the fence, and fit CCTV cameras. He notes that cameras would help trace the attackers’ movements, saying it is unacceptable for a guard to be killed inside a learning institution.

Nakuru Town East Sub-County Police Commander Samson Adanje says they received the report early in the morning and officers rushed to the scene, documented it, and confirmed the incident.

Adanje says the incident does not appear to have been targeted at an individual, noting that the administration office was also broken into. He says the scene is being analyzed to establish what may have been stolen from the office and to compile a full report.

 Investigations are underway as police seek to apprehend the culprits.