Grief gripped Ndiko village in Gatundu North, Kiambu County after a 14-year-old boy drowned in the Karimenu II dam while swimming.
Brian Karanja, a form one student at Kiangunu Secondary School, is said to have been in the company of his three male friends when the tragedy happened.
According to his father Peter Thuita, Karanja, who is his youngest son, left home on Sunday afternoon together with his peers and descended on the dam for spectating.
While there, Thuita said that Karanja decided to swim in the dam only for him to drown while enjoying the expedition.
His friends, who were watching from a distance, realized all was not well when he failed to surface. It’s then that they hurriedly raised the alarm with his parents who were at home, about two kilometres away.
“He came home in the afternoon at around 1 pm before he left with his three friends. His friends came back around 4 pm with claims that he had drowned. I rushed there but I could not save him,” the father recalled.
The distraught parents could not cope with their son’s sudden demise. They eulogized him as a calm, respectful and visionary boy.
Karanja is among a handful of victims who have drowned in the dam which supplies water to residents of Ruiru in Kiambu and Nairobi counties
The number of reported deaths at the Ksh24 billion water project currently stands at four.
Residents expressed concern over the rising cases of drowning at the dam, saying that while they thought the project would end their water scarcity crisis, it has on the contrary become a deathbed.
They took issue with the government and Athi Water Services for doing little to avert deaths in the dam.
“We thought this dam would be a positive project to help our country remain water secure but it’s proving to be different. Many people have drowned in it, raising so many questions,” Clement Gitau, a resident, lamented.
Locals regret that nothing has been done since the government announced plans to fence the entire project as a safety measure for tourists and locals going about their activities near the dam.
“The government has committed to fence the entire dam but their statements remain just mere words as our children continue to die in it. Why is it that only young people, the future of this nation are drowning and when shall the government implement its promises? We demand action,” Jane Njeri, another local, said.
