A family in Kagio, Kirinyaga County is still in shock following the death of their 13-year-old son who drowned in a swimming pool at Silver Slopes Hotel on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024.
According to the family members led by the deceased’s father Peter Ng’ethe the devastating incident still sits fresh in their minds.
“My wife Eunice Wairimu keeps on crying whenever she thinks about our son’s tragedy as they had gone together for New Year celebrations at the Silver Hotel when the incident happened,” Ng’ethe said.
Outside Baricho Law Courts on Tuesday, Wairimu could not hold back her tears as one of the hotel’s caretakers, the accused, was arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Stephen Nyaga and charged with negligence at the swimming pool.
John Kiarie pleaded not guilty and was granted release on a bond of Ksh.200,000.
Ng’ethe said his son was a Grade 7 pupil at Rwang’ondu Primary School in Mwea-West Sub-County and was set to join Grade 8 this year.
“He died when we needed him the most…at one point the hotel management had said the body was not there but the body was retrieved at around 11pm…the boy drowned at around 5pm,” Ng’ethe said.
The family, now seeking justice, hopes that further action can be taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“The hotel management could have kept a watchful eye on our child when our boy was in the swimming pool,” Ng’ethe said.
