Three children aged 12, 10 and 8 drowned in River Nzoia in Mufunje village, Sitikho location in Webuye West Sub County while they were swimming. According to the children’s father Joseph Juma Kanyanya, he came from the market and realised that his animals had not been brought home and he immediately received a call from a neighbour who informed him that he had seen his children’s clothes at the bank of the river.
“I quickly left and went to the river and I saw my kids’ clothes but they were nowhere to be seen,” recounted Kanyanya, “While I was looking for them, some herdsboys said they saw them swimming. That’s when I realized the children had drowned.”
Mr. Kanyanya added that he is going through the hardest time of his life losing three members of his family at that tender age, given that he had high hopes that they had a bright future ahead of them. He called on the government and the Kenya Red Cross to help him recover the bodies. “We have tried our best to recover the bodies, but our efforts have been futile,” he said.
Equally, his wife expressed her deepest disappointment, clearly moved by the incident. The villagers also called upon the government to help them in this tough moment, while some harboured hopes that the children might still be alive, even though the probability is very small.
