Kishenyi Dam claims another life as Tavevo worker found dead

Kishenyi Dam. [Taita Taveta County Citizenry Forum/Facebook]

A pump attendant with Taita Taveta Water and Sewerage Company Limited (Tavevo) has drowned in a dam in the Taita Hills.

Reports indicated that the 35-year-old, Subira Mdawida, had disappeared six days ago from his water firm before his lifeless body was found in Kishenyi Dam in Wundanyi Sub-county.

Sagasa Sub-location Assistant Chief Vigilance Kiongo confirmed the incident and said the body was found by a group of environmentalists around the dam.

“The deceased stayed alone and did not lock his house. The group that saw his head floating on the water alerted me. I called the police and mobilised villagers, who later retrieved the body and took it to Wesu Sub-county Hospital mortuary, awaiting a post-mortem examination,” said Kiongo.

“The deceased knew how to swim, and we do not know how he drowned in the killer dam. Police have launched investigations into the actual cause of the incident,” stated Kiongo.

The incident comes as drowning cases continue to rise in the 30-acre dam. Last year, a swimming expedition turned tragic after a secondary school student drowned in the dam.

The Shimbo Secondary School student was in the company of three others when tragedy struck. The three colleagues, however, managed to escape unscathed in the incident that baffled parents, school authorities and students.

Villagers and authorities said the rescue mission took two days to retrieve the body of the student, which had been trapped in the muddy dam whose water volume had swollen following heavy rains pounding the Taita Hills.

“The student drowned after the waters overwhelmed him midstream while swimming with colleagues,” said a villager.

In a bid to prevent future tragedies, County Executive Committee Member for Water, Mr Granton Mwandawiro, issued an advisory urging members of the public to refrain from swimming in the dam as a safety precaution.

Sitting on a 30-acre plot, the dam has been supplying water to more than 20,000 people in the lowland areas bordering Tsavo National Park.