Protests after boy drowns in dam on Kibaki’s farm

Angry Bahati residents blocked the busy Nakuru-Nyahururu road disrupting transport activities for over three hours on Wednesday after the county government failed to help in in retrieving the body of a boy from a dam.

This followed six hours of efforts by the residents to retrieve the body of eight-year-old Richard Gakuru, who drowned in a private dam at Gingalili farm — owned by former president Mwai Kibaki — on Tuesday afternoon.

This forced the area residents to embark on the search of the body as some volunteered to swim across the dam, led by the area MCA Nderitu Mwangi who is a former Kenya Navy Officer.

“The search mission has been complicated by siltation of the dam and water density,” said the MCA when Nation arrived at the scene.

Frustrated residents decided to vent their anger after the search bore no fruits.

Using twigs and stones, the angry protestors blocked the road and lit fires causing a traffic snarl up. Hundreds of travellers were stranded as a result.

The residents accused the county government for failing to respond to distress calls to help them.

News of the missing boy spread in the evening after his parents realised he had not returned home after he went with colleagues to the farm to look for indigenous vegetables locally known as managu.

His parents and the neighbours went looking for him and found his clothes next to the dam.

Bahati ward administrator Mr Newton Mwaura who was among the search volunteers urged parents to be cautious during the long school holidays and ensure their children were safe.

Kiamaina ward MCA Mr Samuel Kamau said a team of rescue officers from the Nakuru county government visited the scene on Tuesday evening but failed to retrieve the body for lack of equipment.

He said rescuers can only be able to retrieve the body after three days when it’s likely to float.