Eight students arrested after deadly Kenya school fire

NAIROBI, Kenya 

Eight students have been arrested over a suspected arson attack at a Kenyan girls’ boarding school that killed 16 students and injured 79 others, as investigators probe allegations of negligence, overcrowding and ignored warnings at the institution.

Kenyan authorities on Friday arrested eight students over a suspected arson attack at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil, west-central Kenya, after a dormitory fire killed 16 students and left dozens injured.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, preliminary findings identified the students as persons of interest linked to the planning and execution of the blaze, which erupted in the early hours of Thursday. The eight girls are currently in police custody as investigations continue.

Investigators said the affected dormitory contained 135 bunk beds, raising concerns over overcrowding and safety standards at the school.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said preliminary investigations found that two teachers had allegedly been informed of possible plans to start the fire but failed to intervene.

Ogamba also accused the school administration of ignoring safety regulations, pointing to overcrowded dormitories and a locked emergency exit during the fire, which may have contributed to the high death toll.

The government has since disbanded the school’s board of management and vowed legal and disciplinary action against any staff found to have neglected their duties.

School fires have long been a recurring problem in Kenya, with researchers linking many incidents to student protests over harsh discipline and poor living conditions in boarding institutions.

In 2024, a fire at a boarding primary school in Nyeri County killed 21 students, although the cause was never conclusively established.

Kenya’s deadliest school fire in recent decades occurred in 2001 at Kyanguli Secondary School near Nairobi, where 67 boys were killed in a dormitory blaze authorities blamed on arson.

The latest tragedy has reignited concerns over student welfare, overcrowding and emergency preparedness in Kenyan schools

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 30/5/2026

 

Senegalese president pardons journalist over 2018 massacre

DAKAR, Senegal 

The president of Senegal has pardoned a journalist convicted to life in prison over a 2018 massacre in the southern Casamance region, the Committee to Protect Journalists watchdog said in a statement.

Journalist Rene Capain Bassene was convicted over the rounding up and killing of 14 loggers in January 2018 by armed individuals in the Bayottes forest in Casamance.

The region is almost entirely separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia, and is home to an independence rebellion that has simmered for 43 years.

"The Senegalese president has sought to correct a grave miscarriage of justice against a journalist who has devoted his entire career to the resolution of the separatist conflict in Casamance", Moussa Ngom, CPJ's francophone Africa representative, said in a statement.

The organisation said that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Tuesday granted pardon to Bassene, who was freed from prison in Dakar the following day.

Following the massacre of the loggers in 2018 in a protected forest, a separatist group, the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), was blamed but the organisation denied all involvement.

Casamance rebel fighters used the forest as a base and the Senegalese authorities accuse them of financing their activities by trafficking the wood, as well as cannabis.

The rebel group denied any involvement in the murders, accusing corrupt local officials.

Two members of MFDC as well as journalist Bassene were sentenced to life in prison over the killing.

One of the MFDC members was tried in absentia while the other was acquitted in August 2024.

The court in the region's main city of Ziguinchor had additionally handed down six-month suspended sentences to two other defendants and acquitted 11 others.

Bassene had spent most of his career covering the conflict between the MFDC and Senegalese government, and has written several books on the topic.

CPJ said its review of court documents and interviews with Bassene, his co-accused and witnesses revealed a severely flawed investigation into the journalist.

Several defendants who were subsequently acquitted said they were forced to implicate Bassene or sign inaccurate interview records, the organisation said.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 29/5/2026

 

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz warns country at 'breaking point' after weeks of protests

LA PAZ, Bolivia 

Bolivian President, Rodrigo Paz, warns the country is at a "breaking point" after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and life-saving medicine.

The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the country's Indigenous majority have called for the president's resignation.

Less than six months ago, the inauguration of centrist president Rodrigo Paz seemed to usher in a new reality for Bolivians reeling from the worst economic crisis in a generation and fed up with two decades of almost uninterrupted socialist leadership.

After years of diplomatic isolation, Bolivians took pride in the dozens of international delegations that celebrated Mr Paz's swearing-in as he repaired strained relations with the United States and regional powers.

Now, that optimism has been replaced by dread as violent protests shake the government of the Trump administration ally. 

Demonstrators wielding dynamite have blockaded major cities, leading to shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies. 

Indigenous and rural Bolivians who backed Mr Paz's campaign promises to up-end the status quo while protecting social welfare have called on him to step down.

On Tuesday, Congress lifted restrictions on him announcing a state of emergency, paving the way for Mr Paz to possibly deploy troops to restore order.

"The country needs order, and is reaching breaking point," the 58-year-old leader said at a public event in La Paz, on Wednesday, local time, renewing his appeal for dialogue.

"If they do not want dialogue … then there is no other way," he said of the protesters while insisting that he preferred to negotiate.

Tanzania edge Egypt on penalties to reach historic TotalEnergies CAF U-17 AFCON final

RABAT, Morocco 

Tanzania historically booked their place in the final of the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations after edging Egypt 4-3 on penalties following a goalless semi-final draw on Thursday in Rabat, Morocco.

The tightly contested encounter at Rabat’s Moulay El Hassan Stadium saw both sides struggle to create clear-cut opportunities, with the deadlock remaining intact after 90 minutes.

Egypt came closest late in the second half through Daniel Tamer, whose powerful effort was well saved by Tanzania goalkeeper Haji Abdallah, while Malek Amr also produced an important stop to keep Egypt level.

With neither side able to find a breakthrough, the match was decided on penalties where Tanzania converted four of their five spot-kicks to seal victory and a place in the final for the first time ever.

Egypt, appearing in their first semi-final since 2003, exit the competition after an impressive campaign that also secured qualification for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Uganda closes its border with DR Congo, where suspected cases of rare Ebola type are surging

KAMPALA, Uganda 

Uganda on Wednesday ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of a rare type of Ebola are surging, and as cases have been confirmed at home after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the disease from Congolese patients.

The measure, which goes against the guidance by the World Health Organization, underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and that has no approved medicines or vaccines.

Like Congo, Uganda has faced Ebola outbreaks in the past. 

A local Ugandan task force made the decision on the border closure. The Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.

The border closure was temporary, with "immediate effect," Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told journalists. 

Border crossings will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, humanitarian, cargo or security reasons, she added.

Anyone entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory isolation for 21 days.

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever. The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients' bodily fluids. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.

The number of suspected cases in eastern Congo is nearing 1,000, with at least 220 suspected deaths. Congo's health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed, and they are looking into over 3,000 possible contacts.

On Wednesday, Congolese authorities said that the first person who recovered from the Bundibugyo virus has been released home from a treatment center in Rwampara, one of the towns in eastern Congo at the heart of the outbreak.

WHO has discouraged border closures with Congo while acknowledging that neighboring countries are at high risk of contagion. The U.N. health agency has declared this outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Closures "push the movement of people and goods to informal border crossings that are not monitored, thus increasing the chances of the spread of disease," the agency said.

The Uganda-Congo border is several hundred miles long and crossed by numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts. Many people come and go in the course of a day to visit families or to trade.

Congolese health authorities are struggling to contain the outbreak, which WHO says is outpacing them. 

The rare type of Ebola was confirmed weeks late as tests were carried out for a more common type. Challenges also include the threat from armed groups in eastern Congo, a large number of displaced people and poor infrastructure.

WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Wednesday for a ceasefire in eastern Congo to allow safe access for responders and others, saying on social media that "attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible."

Responders in Congo have said they are underprepared and under-protected for this outbreak, while conflict-traumatized residents, long wary of outsiders, have attacked a number of clinics and hurled stones and abuse at volunteers trying to make people aware of the virus and its risks.

Infected people or those have been in contact should not undertake international travel unless it's a medical evacuation, WHO has said. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said it is planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them to the United States.

Uganda has reported seven cases of Ebola, including the first case of a 59-year-old man who died in Kampala, the country's capital, on May 14. 

While the Ebola case load is not spiking, the number of locals exposed to infection via health workers has been rising.

"They have families, and so the number has been increasing," Atwine, the Ugandan health official, said of the health workers.

At least 16 students killed in overnight fire at Kenyan boarding school

GILGIL, Kenya 

At least 16 students have died in a fire at a boarding school in the Kenyan town of Gilgil, authorities confirmed on Thursday. At least 79 others were injured in the overnight blaze at the Utumishi Girls School in central Kenya.

The cause of the fire hasn't yet been established. Police say they’re investigating whether safety regulations were followed.

The fire started in the early hours of the morning in a dormitory building housing more than 200 students.

The government-owned secondary school is managed and sponsored by the Kenya Police Service. Many of the students are daughters of police officers.

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, with some caused by arson and others by electrical faults. Overcrowding and a failure to follow safety guidelines, including keeping doors clear and windows unlocked, often result in a high number of casualties.

Kenya's deadliest school fire in recent history occurred in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos County.

In 2024, 21 students burned to death in a school fire in central Kenya. President William Ruto declared three days of mourning.

In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in Nairobi. A student was charged with murder.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 28/5/2026