It is not a first time nor a second time we have heard of such tragedies. In the recent past, we heard of a student who drowned in a dam in Musikoma area, Bungoma County. It is yet again, a family from Sirisia in Misikhu ward, Webuye West constituency in Bungoma is mourning the death of their son drowned on Saturday around 11am and his body retrieved at 6pm. Have these Bungoma dams become black spots?
According to a local daily, Kelvin Simiyu, a Form 1 student at Sirisia Secondary School drowned at Teetee Sirende dam, where he had gone on a fishing escapade with his friends.
The daily reports that the boys were fishing, the net caught a lot of fish and was too heavy to be pulled out of the water.
The boy’s father Johnston Simiyu said he had a spent that morning doing chores with him before he left in the afternoon.
“I was shocked to be called by a friend who informed me of the saddening news,” he said.
The deceased was his only son, he said, adding that he had hoped that the boy who was bright in school would pass exams, go to university and secure a well paying job to help in future.
The 16-year-old boy’s body was pulled out of the water by traditional divers. The two men were given a sheep and a cow worth thirty thousands by the deceased’s family as it is usually the norm.
His body was taken to Webuye County Hospital Morgue by police. Resident Ken Waswa said residents have, in the past, raised complaints to have the dam fenced but nothing was done by the local leaders and the county.
He said the dam had earlier on been fenced and fish put in it their by former governor Ken Lusaka, the now senate speaker, but residents vandalised the dam and began to fish.
Special programmes director Caroline Buyela, who visited the scene, said she will ensure the dam is fenced by the county to avoid such a tragedy in future.