Rastafarian father sues school for kicking out daughter over dreadlocks

A Rastafarian dad in Nairobi has moved to the High Court in a bid to defend his Form One daughter’s dreadlocks.

The father, through counsel Wambui Shadrack has sued the Board of Governors of Olympic High School in Kibra for sending home the newly admitted Form One girl ordering that she shaves her dreadlocks to be accepted in the school.

The petitioner alleges that the child reported to school on January 10, 2019 and commenced her Secondary education with excitement and joy. He also said the daughter was in class when she was summoned by the deputy head teacher who sent her away ordering that she only returns to school after shaving her dreadlocks.

“I have sought audience with the deputy head teacher, headmaster and education officer based in Kibra and explained that the dreadlocks are as a result of cultural and religious beliefs and no one has listened to us,” says the father.

The parent states that his, wife and their five children are members of the Rastafarian Society of Kenya as well as ardent followers of the Rastafarian religion.

He adds that his fourth-born daughter, aged 15, and who is the subject of the suit, attended and completed her primary school education at the Shadrack Kimalel Primary School, Ngumo and scored 282 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education with no interference with her hairstyle.

Further, the applicant avers that significant to their religious beliefs, he together with the entire family, keep dreadlocks not as a fashion statement but as a clear distinction between themselves and non-rastas.

The matter was certified as urgent and the court directed the advocate to serve all respondents pending an inter-parties hearing on January 16, 2018.