A woman who couldn't raise her son's school fee has committed suicide by drinking pesticide.
Police in Kinangop, Nyandarua county, are investigating.
Sarah Wacuka from Murungaru village was confirmed dead on arrival at Naivasha Subcounty Hospital hours after drinking the poison.
Area chief Joseph Kimani said on Thursday the woman was drinking heavily for days before she took her own life.
"We are getting all manner of stories in relation to her death, but police have taken over the matter,” he said on Thursday.
A friend, Jane Njambi, said the single mother of two had turned to her boyfriend to help pay her son's fees so that he could join Form 1 in a Naivasha school.
But the woman, who did manual labour, was unable to raise the money and fell into depression.
“After taking the pesticide, she was rushed to hospital where she died minutes after arrival, leaving us with another burden of burial,” Njambi said.
Meanwhile, a sand harvester died in the Longonot area of Naivasha after a quarry he was working in collapsed on Thursday morning.
Three coworkers escaped.
The victim was pronounced dead on arrival at Naivasha Subcounty Hospital.
Naivasha police division boss Samuel Waweru said local youths were harvesting sand when the quarry caved in.
In the last couple of months, a number of young men have died while harvesting sand.
(Edited by V. Graham)