Parents of learners and officials at Gatoto Community Primary School have vowed to challenge a High Court decision that could see the Mukuru kwa Njenga institution transition from a public school to a privately managed Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training (APBET) institution.
The parents, backed by local residents, insist the school has always belonged to the community and was established to provide education to children from one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements. They now fear the court orders could alter the school’s identity and affect future generations of learners.
Their legal team, led by advocates Danstan Omari and Martina Swiga, said they will move back to court to stop the implementation of the orders, arguing that the interests of pupils and the wider community must come before competing ownership claims.
According to the lawyers, the dispute extends far beyond a legal contest over property.
“This is about protecting the education of children who have relied on this institution for decades. The community cannot stand by and watch a public learning institution change hands without exhausting every legal avenue available,” they said.
The dispute follows a judgment delivered on June 25 in which the High Court directed education authorities to register Gatoto Community Primary School as a private non-profit APBET institution under the management of the petitioners.
The ruling also directed that control of the school be transferred on July 2, with security during the exercise to be provided by the Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Makadara.
The decision has been met with resistance from parents, who argue that the school was founded through community efforts and has served children from Mukuru kwa Njenga for more than three decades.
Residents say the land was donated solely to establish a school for local children and not for private ownership. They maintain that the institution has operated continuously since 1994 and has produced thousands of former pupils, many of whom still live within the community.
Long-time resident Scholastica Mwongeli said the neighbourhood fought for years to ensure the school became part of the public education system and questioned attempts to portray it as a privately established institution.
She recalled that many people now involved in the ownership dispute once attended the school themselves, insisting its history is well known to residents.
Parents have now appealed to the Ministry of Education to intervene before the transition takes effect, warning that changing the school’s status could create uncertainty for learners and teachers alike.
They say they will seek fresh court orders from the court of appeal to suspend implementation of the judgment while the matter is reconsidered, maintaining that Gatoto Community Primary School should continue operating as a public institution dedicated to serving children from Mukuru kwa Njenga.
