Village in mourning after crash claims its first law student

@singoeijoylene

The upsurge in road carnages on our roads is worrying. It always leaves a trail of devastation and loss to victims and their families, friends and communities. Today, a community is in mourning after it lost its first law student. Amos Powon was among those killed in the Thursday horrific accident at Eldama Ravine junction along Eldoret-Nakuru Highway.

Amos, a second law student at Moi University Eldoret, boarded the ill-fated Nairobi bound North Rift Shuttle to attend the passing out of his brother at Administration Police Training college in Embakasi.

This was never to be, the journey was cut short after their vehicle was involved in a head collision with a trailer that dragged them for 40 metres before it came to a halt. When it stopped, 11 people had perished on the spot. They died a painful death. There was only one survivor from the matatu. The driver of the lorry and his turn boy vanished after the accident leaving behind a man who had boarded the lorry.

The late Amos hails from Lomut location in West Pokot County. This is a region that has never had a lawyer; he was destined to be the first lawyer in the location and a second in the entire Chesegon division. The community was upbeat; there was a legal mind in the pipeline. They knew he would champion for their rights and probably deliver them from the yoke of marginalization.

The sad news trickled towards the evening after his colleagues and neigbours viewed his body at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret and confirmed that truly our beloved Amos had left us. The pain was unbearable to all of us who knew him; his Facebook page was awash with messages of condolences. He was a jewel to our community. He was industrious, big-hearted and had an enriched vision. He was leader who championed worthy causes for the community. This April, he had marshaled college and university students to offer free tuition to secondary schools students from our home village Lomut. Illiteracy level is still high in West Pokot County, he knew such initiative was one step to empowering our children through education.

Although there are new traffic rules put in place by Transport Cabinet Secretary Eng Michael Kamau, the government should do more to tame accidents that are cruelly cutting short many lives. Those found culpable of driving recklessly and endangering lives should be dealt with by the law. Also, most fatal accidents involve trailers speeding and overtaking at wrong sections of the road. I besiege the government to work more on restoring sanity on our roads.

Here are some of the messages posted by neighbors on his facebook page following his demise:

‘I am personally saddened by the loss of one of our upcoming great mind from Lomut, the late Amos Powon Siwotoi, a promising lawyer who was going to make history as the first lawyer from Lomut Location. Those charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in our roads, please take care of our young elites, be vigilant TO NOTICE and take action on reckless drivers. RIP AMOS’- Julius Ariwomoi

‘The legal fraternity, the Pokot community, the county and the nation has been robbed of a sharp legal mind in Mr Amos Powon. What words can we use to describe such a loss? We only seek guidance from God. For He himself knows why He took him at that tender and resourceful age. An age where he had not accomplished the dreams he wished to see fulfilled.
Rest in Eternal Peace’ -Ngiro leo

‘We lost our great Amos Powon, a second year law student at Moi University. May God give his families strength during this trying moment’- Michael Kolimoo Lokitam

‘It is hard to accept that Powon Amos is no more. Lomut people and Kenya at large lost a great person, a Lawyer to be, in an area where those educated are countable’- James Lochita

Rest in perfect peace Amos Powon.