It was a sad morning at Kipkabus in Uasin Gishu County on Sunday, September 15 as residents mourned two people who drowned in an abandoned dam.
Reports by KTN News indicated that on Saturday, a class three boy drowned in the dam abandoned by Chinese contractors in Leltot farm.
In a bid to retrieve the body of the boy the next day, an incoming first-year student at Kipkabus Technical Training Institute (TTI) in the area also drowned after being overwhelmed by the waters.
Nicholas Kolaba Chelule, a former Member of County Assembly (MCA) in the area stated that emergency services personnel had not shown up to retrieve the two.
"Yesterday at around this hour, we lost a child who drowned in this dam. Since yesterday we have received no help from the government. Today morning a, a student from Kipkabus TTI volunteered to help retrieve the boy, but he also drowned," narrated the former MCA.
He also stated that they had tried everything within their means but their efforts remained futile.
"We have tried to manually empty the dam using a pump in vain. We have also had no divers. I'm appealing to the government to come to our rescue," he spoke.
Chelule also appealed to the Chinese contractors to seal the dam as it was proving to be a death trap.
"We had agreed that they should seal the dam once it had served its purpose but it has been one year since the agreement but nothing has been done," complained Chelule.
Another resident, Cleophas Kimutai Ng'etich disclosed that despite the presence of police officers, nothing much more had been done to ease the pain of the affected families.
"It has been 24 hours since the first person drowned and nothing has been done, police were brought to man the area but no rescue operations have been conducted," he lamented.
