Tuesday a sad day for Kisii family

Tuesday morning was doubtless memorable for the 727,054 candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations this year. For many years, each will recall where they were when the results were announced in the annual ritual performed between Christmas Day and New Year, making the latter a joyous or sad event.

For one family in Kisii though, Tuesday morning was one more painful reminder of an event they want to put behind them, an event that has left a scar that will take time to fade away. The siblings of Gilbert Oroo, who died about 27 days after he sat his last paper at Gemas Primary School, did not bother to watch the live broadcast of the release of the KCPE examinations results.

“It was a difficult moment for all of us. I watched when the results were being read but his brother and sisters kept away. The mother broke down,” said his father Mr George Oroo in a telephone interview on Wednesday. He said the rest of the family was in another room. He also eventually switched off the TV when the memories of his son became too much to bear.

“As a parent, you feel sad when the person who should be waiting for the results is not there,” said Mr Oroo, who is also the chairman of the Kisii South branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers. Gilbert drowned in the swimming pool at Railways Club at about 6.45 pm on December 9.

Efforts to resuscitate him at the poolside were fruitless and he was pronounced dead on arrival at Kenyatta National Hospital. He was buried on December 18 at Bonwanda in Kisii. He scored 349 marks in the national exam. Gilbert was Mr Oroo’s last born and is described in his eulogy as flawless, happy, cheerful and popularly known as Daddy, Omogaka and Sokoro.

Gilbert bounced back from an infancy made difficult by a cleft lip that made it hard for him to breastfeed and develop speech normally. The family went to Gemas Primary School on Wednesday and the outpouring of emotions was overwhelming. Gilbert’s former classmates were crying and the teachers came out to console the family. “The mood was very bad,” said Mr Oroo.