BY SAM ALFAN .
Makini School has told the High Court that its contractual relationship with the father of two minors who had initially expelled from the school cannot be salvaged.
Through the regional director Horace Mpanza, the high-end school says it is no longer tenable to continue having the father of two minors as a parent of the School.
The school said it has completely lost confidence in the parent and its ability to provide the services it was contractually obligated to provide to the minors.
“Indeed, the minors are not likely to benefit by staying any longer at the School and having received the consideration from the terminated private service contract, I believe it would be best that the father enrolls the minors at another institution that has his confidence,” says Mpanza in his detailed affidavit.
While responding to the suit where the two minors have sued Makini School through their parents, Mpanza has insisted that the school terminated the contract between the parties.
He further said the parent was refunded a total of Sh. 119,700 on or about 11th July 2023 after they parted ways meaning that the contractual relationship between the parent and the school was effectively dead.
“The impugned termination has already taken effect. The prayers sought by the parents vide the application, which are in any event in the nature of a mandatory injunction, cannot issue as the event they are meant to prevent has already occurred and been overtaken by event and what the parents are asking for is for the court to return the parties to a contractual relationship that has already been terminated, and without any consideration,” says Mpanza in his affidavit.
Mpanza argued that despite having received a refund and with the full knowledge that the minors were no longer students of Makini School, the minors cannot benefit from the School’s services in the absence of the requisite consideration.
However, the parents allegedly sneaked in the minors into the school on at least two occasions the past week.
High Court judge Mugure Thande suspended the move to expel the minors, pending the determination of a petition filed by the parents.
The Judge further prohibited Mpanza, who is the school’s chief executive officer and regional managing and Catherine Njuguna from giving effect the expulsion letter.
But Mpanza says in the latest application that the minors through their parents have commenced parallel proceedings before the County Director, Children’s Services over the same issues raised in court.
He added that the parents have also reported the matter to the Ministry of Education in an abuse of court process and a duplicity of actions that is designed to tire the Respondents out with multiple proceedings.
They claim they have been improperly joined in these proceedings and our names should be struck out with immediate effect.
According to Mpanza,the contractual relationship between Makini and PTA official became increasingly strained over the years, with the parent harassing and Intimidating Makini’s employees.
He alleges that he has occasionally wielded his power as the unlawful Chairperson of the PTA and falsely promised job security to the academic staff regardless of whether they have incidents of misconduct or not, in addition to threatening the job security of Makini’s.
Mpanza adds that despite the Constitution of the PTA of Makini’s School limiting the period the Chairperson thereof can serve to a maximum of three consecutive years. The official, who was elected into the office of the PTA Chairperson in 2019, continued to serve in that capacity well beyond the cap set by the PTA Constitution.
He allege that the letter contains false, fabricated, alarming and inflammatory and inflammatory allegations against Makini and my person. He further alleges that at his behest or under his watch, the letter was leaked to the parent body, thereby causing great reputational damage to Makini School.
“The allegations set out in the petitioners’ were completely baseless and were authored at the behest and instructions of the officials purporting to act as the PTA Chairperson. He is yet to issue the apology and retraction demanded by the Respondents’ advocates vide their letter of 7 July 2023,” says Mpanza.
He alleges that he is aware that the petitioners’ document was shared in a PTA representatives WhatsApp Group, where the official is an administrator, by a parent who proceeded to publish inciting, malicious and insensitive messages and the parent also shared various other documents, including a termination letter issued to a former employee of Makini, which she claimed had been discussed at a previous workshop of the PTA.
