Our son Ian Sing'oei drowned, family says

The family of Ian Sing'oei whose body was found in Mwiki, Kasarani, Nairobi, on Saturday has said he drowned in a river.

His father, Elgeyo Marakwet  County Commissioner John Korir and mother Pauline who is the Gender Chief Officer in Bomet County dismissed reports that their son was abducted.

In a statement sent to media houses on Sunday, the family clarified that investigating agencies had given them a preliminary postmortem report indicating that Ian drowned in the river where his body was found.

Dr Korir said his son was in the company of a friends on New Year's Eve in Mwiki before he went missing and could not be reached on phone, triggering a search after they reported the matter to police.

His body was retrieved from the river not far from where he lived in Mwiki and taken to the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) for postmortem and preservation.

"The preliminary postmortem indicates the cause of his death as a result of drowning. However, further investigations of some samples are yet to be analyzed for toxicity. This will come out later," Korird.

"The police have been cooperative. We have worked together in search of our son. We as a family have entrusted the police to conduct in-depth investigations into this incident," he added.

The family denied reports that their son was a victim of abduction.

"We wish to categorically disassociate the demise of our beloved Ian to the speculations, rumours, and innuendos being circulated in the media portraying our son's case being associated with abduction. For avoidance of doubt, our son was such a law-abiding young professional who we have no reason whatsoever to associate with the allegations being erroneously publicized in the media," Korir said.

He further said that Ian has never been an activist nor had any inclination to politics and warned against linking his death to enforced disappearance and abduction.

"Those behind these erroneous publications are hurting the family a lot more since it is our honest contention that our son's demise has no relationship with the cases being referred to," the family said in the statement.

The County Commissioner expressed the family's confidence in the security agencies undertaking investigations into the death of their son and appealed for restraint from those spreading falsehoods.

"As a family, we seek to assure everyone of our confidence in the police to conduct their investigations and further to ask for privacy to mourn our beloved son," the family said.