On Wednesday, May 24, Stallion Kipletting Bett, a Form One student at Ndururumo High School in Laikipia County, mysteriously disappeared from the school on the outskirts of Nyahururu town.
Two weeks later, the body of the 14-year-old was discovered floating in a man-made dam at the Nyahururu Sports and Golf Club, metres from the school.
CCTV cameras at the school captured him with other students at the institution at around 6pm on Wednesday, the last time he was seen alive.
According to a student at the school, Stallion appeared depressed and disturbed before he went missing.
"Hours before he went missing, Stallion seemed depressed and there was definitely something bothering him. But he mysteriously went missing before we could establish what was disturbing him," said the Form One student.
It is not clear how the student left the institution, a highly guarded boarding school, before his body was found at Nyahururu Golf Club.
After he went missing, the school and his family launched a frantic search.
Phone calls were made, residents of the neighbouring Kiamaina slums were asked if they had seen the student, and when the search proved fruitless, a missing person's report was filed at the Nyahururu police station.
Various social media platforms
“When the school reported to us that he had disappeared, we tried reaching out to relatives in Nakuru and other parts of the country, inquiring if they had come into contact with him. It was after two weeks of sleepless nights that his body was found floating inside the Nyahururu Sports and Golf Club dam,” said a relative who had accompanied the student’s father, Barnabas Bett, at the Nyahururu sub-county referral hospital mortuary where the family positively identified the body as that of their son.
The family is yet to come to terms with the loss of their son, who they said showed no signs of unwillingness to return to school when it reopened for the second term last month.
"He was a hardworking son. He was always open to me and when they reopened school last month, l escorted him back. He was fine and jovial and had nothing disturbing him," said Mr Bett.
Nyahururu sub-county Deputy County Commissioner Muthike Ndambuki said the student was wearing full school uniform, including shoes, when his body was found.
He, however, said that it has not yet been established the circumstances surrounding the student’s death and how he ended up at the dam. He said investigations have been launched.
“The post-mortem that is set to be conducted on Tuesday, will help us to establish what might have transpired,” added the police boss.
A student at the school, whom we cannot name for legal reasons, revealed that the teenager might have sneaked out of school before he met his death.
Came across hippopotamuses
"He must have sneaked from school at night before he met his death. Probably, he came across hippopotamuses which frequent the surrounding areas including the Nyahururu Sports and Golf Club and in the process, he fell in the dam while trying to save his life," revealed the student.
"At night you can't walk around without encountering the hippos," he added.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is now piecing together information to establish what happened.
Two years ago, three children drowned at the dam, which is in the neighbourhood of Maina slums.
The three boys aged between 7 and 10 years, among them twins, had reportedly gone to the golf club to catch a glimpse of a helicopter that had taken then-Deputy President William Ruto to a funds drive at Ndaragwa township in the neighbouring Nyandarua County.
The chopper had landed at the golf club before Dr Ruto proceeded by road to Ndaragwa Township, several kilometres from Nyahururu town.
The twins reportedly decided to swim at the dam after failing to see the chopper. The third boy drowned as he attempted to rescue the brothers.
Residents have since called for the rehabilitation of all abandoned quarries following a series of drownings in the open quarries that have been witnessed in parts of the county.
“The government should ensure that the quarries have been refilled or rehabilitated. The county government should partner with National Environment Management Authority and other relevant agencies to ensure that all the requisite procedures and approvals are done before the commencement of quarrying with an ultimate aim to dependably refill the uncovered pits, keeping in mind the end goal to reestablish the scene to its original state,” said Mr Samuel Njoroge, a resident of Maina slums.
On May 6, 2018, two minors aged 10 and 12 years drowned while trying to swim in the abandoned Kichinjio quarry at Ngomongo estate on the outskirts of Nyahururu town.
On September 8, 2015, three secondary school students drowned after a swimming expedition at an abandoned quarry turned tragic.
The three students, two in Form Two and one in Form Four in Thiru Secondary School in Sironi location in Laikipia West Sub County, had gone swimming at the quarry.
