Part XIV: Tradition and more politics

Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing,

Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon all, their faults confessing;
Time that’s lost may all retrieve;
May Thy children
Ne’er again Thy Spirit grieve.

Let Thy father-hand be shielding
All who here shall meet no more;
May their seed-time past be yielding
Year by year a richer store;
Those returning,
Make more faithful than before.

The hymn sang often meant different things to different people at the end of the year. Rabbles celebrated the end of a gruelling year while looking forward to the holidays like never before. Fourth formers celebrated the uncertainty of their future and sixth formers celebrated the end of their school days arguably the happiest days of one’s entire life. We fifth form school prefects celebrated the uncertainty of what the new year (1983) would bring under our brand new leadership.

1982 was brought to a close in the same fashion other school years had been concluded since the school was founded in 1949. The hymn “Lord dismiss us with thy blessing” ended the last chapel service of the year and the headmaster Ndau Kanyi and school chaplain Norman Dodman symbolically led the school prefects out of the chapel bidding them farewell as they were released out into the world. There were two processions of school prefects on the two aisles in the school chapel. On the right side of the chapel Head of school John Alai followed by a handful of prefects and on the other side of the chapel was Spike Ogot deputy head of school followed by another group of prefects. Perfect order, military precision.

It had been a great year with many achievements including both the Prescott schools rugby cup and the Starehe founders day cup both of which I played a role in. Both had not been to Lenana for decades. Just goes to confirm that when you have your leadership right, achievements and new heights will inevitably follow. And here I am talking about the leadership of the school prefects of 1982, because everything starts with discipline. Great capable guys they were and bound to be remembered for many years to come.

The four of us 5th form school prefects seated at the back of the chapel had the perfect view of this traditional ceremony for the first time since we joined the school 5 years earlier. Theoretically we were now in charge.

There was no handing over ceremony, no briefing or tips to help us meet the challenges of the coming year. We were very much on our own and we would just have to make the best of it just like our many predecessors had. Hopefully the last 5 or so very eventful weeks had given us enough preparation. In any case we would find out soon enough.

The school holidays passed swiftly and we were back in the school dining hall for the first supper of the year 1983. Traditionally the head of house for the following year was announced during house suppers at the end of the previous year. In Block 2 there had been no such announcements in 1982 since it was assumed that both Alloys Obiero (Mitchell) and myself having been named school prefects already would automatically be heads of our respective houses.

It was a strange feeling seated where only a few weeks earlier Sam Olago had sat. The table was not filled up yet since fifth formers were yet to report back. It felt even stranger walking into Sam Olago’s private study without knocking. It now belonged to me.

We shared the usual small talk folks share at the beginning of a new term mostly happy to see each other again. I retired early not entirely sure who I would be in this new school year. A senior school prefect? Deputy head of school? Or… perhaps Head of school? I had no way of knowing. Neither was I confident. There had been nothing to give me any sign that I would be HOS. I tried my best to prepare myself for any possible disappointment and to accept whatever I had coming.

The four of us entered the assembly hall at different times and took our seats at the back where school prefects always sat.

Why lie, I was extremely tense. I could only imagine what Obonyo would say in his next “political analysis” in Kadi’s art class if I missed being head of school. This time I was sure I would not find any humour in his jokes.

I looked at my 3 colleagues and something told me that one of them had already been called aside by the headmaster and given some advance knowledge that they were HOS. Naturally I would give them my full support, I told myself. I tried to look at their faces for any tell tale signs like that of a cat that had just secretly drunk some milk, but could find none.

The headmaster walked in and we all stood up as usual. I was so preoccupied with my own feelings and dread but the truth is that most of the people in that hall must have also been tense (and not just my 3 colleagues) all waiting to hear the most important announcement of the beginning of the year. All eyes were on Ndau Kanyi.

“The head of school is… and I hope that you are going to give him all the support, Kavila.”

I stood up in a daze and sat down too quickly for anybody who might not know who I was to take a good look. There was applause in the hall and most of it was coming from the rabbles. Hardly surprising because in those days word about seniors who shunned bullying usually spread fast. Still, I was not the only one popular with rabbles. At least one other colleague of mine was just as popular with juniors. He was named deputy head of school. This was of course my great friend Tony Maleche. Naturally all this would change in the coming months as we asserted our authority.

There was no time to analyse what had happened and especially the whys. My mind was focused on fully meeting my new responsibilities and not letting down the school and especially the administration which had shown much more confidence in me than I had in myself. I remember that day like it was yesterday and no thoughts about the honour that had come to Kirk crossed my mind, like they should have.

But allow me to analyse here what had happened shortly before this day based on stuff that I was to find out in the coming months and some I was even destined to know years later and long after I had left Lenana.

There had been very strong opposition to my being named head of school which mostly came from a section of the class of 1982 school prefects. One senior school prefect even booked an appointment to see the headmaster to discuss the matter and expressed his strong opposition to my possible appointment.

A few senior house masters also had strong doubts about me although some of them were backing their own horses and this probably clouded their judgement on the issue. Looking back now I have to admit that some of their reasons were justified. Prominent school prefects in the class of 1982 felt that I did not have enough confidence for the high office and they were absolutely right. The headmasters' statement just before naming me now makes plenty of sense. “I hope that you are going to give him all the support,” he had said.

But the truth is that I also had some very strong backers who felt that nobody deserved the honour more than I did. In all my years at Lenana I had shown great respect to teachers (that’s just me) and when others looked for every opportunity to put them down, I never did. It paid off big time I am sure because 2 or 3 of these teachers who had taught me were house masters.

But by far the biggest “political” issue in deciding the HOS 1983 was academics. The headmaster and a sizeable number of house masters who had been in Lenana long enough were convinced that some previous head boys and school prefects had not performed as well as they should have in their final national exams because the office went to their heads. Some school prefects had even failed miserably because their being prefects took priority over their books. I really can’t blame them because school prefects had immense powers in those days and power tends to go to the head pretty quickly. It can happen to anybody.

Now get me right. I am NOT saying I was exceptionally intelligent and I never topped any class. But neither was I exceptionally daft. I had done reasonably well in my fourth form and had consistently continued to do well most notably in third term of fifth form (which I am told was analysed carefully for all HOS candidates).

Now like most fifth formers I was NOT reading hard in 5th form. I was just lucky that English Literature was something I enjoyed immensely and it almost came naturally without too much effort on my part. Mostly because I knew even then that it would play an important role in my life later. Geography was a subject I had always liked and besides it was taught by my house master and soccer master Odhiambo Pekos. Dave Anderson (the rugby master) taught me economics and so I had no option but to pay attention and to do well in his classes. Fine art you already know the story, I was limping badly but then fine art is not the kind of subject where you need to allocate time to read and so it cannot have been relevant in deciding the HOS.

I found out all this shocking info from teachers I befriended while in Lenana and whom I could meet for a regular drink with many years after I left the school.

And the truth is this information floored me. After all the campaign and anxiety it finally came down to our performance in class and most notably our third term 5th form end of term report card. Wow!!!

The coming weeks and months were to test me to my very limits and put me through experiences that were a first in my life.