A Sunday afternoon adventure for four friends turned tragic after one of them drowned in Karimenu II dam, Gatundu North, in Kiambu county.
Brian Karanja, 14, and a Form 1 student at Kiangunu Secondary School was swimming in the dam together with his three friends when tragedy struck.
His father, Peter Thuita, said Karanja, his youngest son, left home on Sunday looking forward to an adventurous afternoon and decided to swim in the dam only for him to drown.
He said his son's friends who were a distance from where Karanja was, realised all was not well when they failed to see him. They called his parents who were at home, about two kilometres away.
“His friends notified us around 4pm that he [Karanja] had drowned in the dam. We rushed there but we couldn’t rescue him. It's so painful to lose such a promising son at a young age,” the grief-stricken father said.
Thuita said his son was a calm and respectful boy.
The boy’s death brings to four the number of people who have died in the dam since it was completed and opened by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in August last year.
Residents expressed concern over the rising cases of drowning at the dam, saying that while they thought the project would end their water scarcity problem, it has turned into a death trap.
“We are worried because the dam is claiming innocent lives in our villages. We though it would end our water woes but that never happened. We are pleading with the relevant authorities to act swiftly and prevent more loss of lives,” resident Pauline Njambi said.
Residents said the government announced plans to fence the entire project as a safety measure for tourists and residents going about their activities near the dam, but nothing has been done.
“The government had promised to fence the dam but they failed to heed to their promise. How many more lives will be lost in this dam so that they can wake up from their slumberland and fence the dam?" resident Francis Kibutu posed.
The boy's body was retrieved and taken to General Kago funeral home in Thika.