A sombre mood engulfed residents living near river Kuywa near Matisi after the body of a form one student from Malava boys who had drowned on Friday was found. According to those who were with the boy, they had gone to work in a sugarcane plantation and after that, he asked two of his friends and neighbours to go for a swim. However, the river Kuywa water currents overwhelmed him and he drowned. His friends tried to help him but it was in vain.
The deceased’s father Mr. Edwin Masika said maybe the boy didn’t know how to swim properly, adding that the search for his body started immediately on Friday till it was found on Sunday. He urged children to avoid rivers given that most of them are swollen due to heavy rains. His uncle said death had robbed them of a promising young man at tender age but appealed to the Bungoma County government through the department of special programmes to set aside funds to train and take care of divers. He said it was hard to get professional divers and that explains the long search for the boy’s body.