Janet Mbugua calls for shared accountability after Utumishi Girls fire tragedy
By Valerian Khakayi, June 5, 2026Media personality Janet Mbugua has called for shared accountability following the Utumishi fire tragedy that left 16 girls dead, urging a deeper reflection on the systems surrounding the incident rather than placing blame in one direction.
Taking to her official social media accounts on Friday, June 5,2026, Janet said society must be willing to ask difficult questions about institutional failure, especially where children are involved.
She noted that while discipline and responsibility among students are important, accountability must also extend to administrators, policymakers, and systems that may have contributed to the crisis.
“We expel children for breaking windows, but we also need to ask, ‘Who built a school with no doors?'” Janet wrote, highlighting the need to examine structural weaknesses in learning institutions.
Following the incident, sixteen families are now grieving daughters they had dropped off at school expecting to reunite with them at the end of term. Janet described the loss as unbearable, stressing that such grief deserves to be fully acknowledged before any other debate.
“Sixteen girls are dead; families are burying daughters they dropped off at school expecting to collect at the end of term. That grief is unspeakable and it deserves to be held, fully, before anything else,” she added.
She further questioned what breakdowns in the education environment could lead children to feel destruction was their only form of expression, especially in a case that she suggested may not be isolated.
“Then we have to ask the harder question: what broke down so completely that children felt destruction was their only option? Given that this isn’t the first incident?” Janet stated.
Shared accountability
Additionally, the former TV host called for responsibility not only from students but also from those in authority who shape school environments and policies.
“Accountability has to run in both directions. Toward the students, yes, and also toward every administrator, policymaker, and system that created the pressure without building the release valve,” she wrote.
She further urged authorities to pursue justice for the 16 girls while implementing long-term reforms to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“Justice for the sixteen as well as a system that stops producing the conditions for the next tragedy,” Janet stated.