Family's agony as Form One student dies under unclear circumstances

Emmanuel Kirimi, a Form One student at Kilungu Boys in Makueni County. [Stephen Nzioka, Standard]

A family in Kitengela is seeking justice following the death of their son Emmanuel Kirimi, a Form One student at Kilungu Boys in Makueni county.

The boy died on January 25, about 10 days after he was admitted to the institution. His family is suspecting foul play and has accused the school administration of cover-up.

The student's father, Joshua Kaimenyi said he received a call informing him that Kirimi had suddenly been taken ill and he was need at the school

Mr Kaimenyi insisted that his son was in good health when he left him in the school.

"I am a pastor and I was ministering at Isinya the day I received a phone call from a person who identified himself as the school principal, Mr Geoffrey Muema. He told me to rush to the school since my son had fallen sick," he said.

When he arrived at the institution, he was told the news of his son's death. Unable to bear the sudden loss of his son, Kaimenyi broke down.

"The school revealed that attempts to save my son's life were futile and he died a couple of hours before I arrived. They said he had stomach complications for days and they were administering oral drugs in the school," he recounted.

The family has since protested how the school handled their son leading to his death. Relatives are questioning why they were never informed early enough about Kirimi's alleged stomach complications and why the school made the decision to take the body to Kilungu sub-county hospital morgue before the parents arrived.

"The school has insisted that the boy died in hospital but we have established otherwise," said the deceased's cousin Lisa Mwongera.

Kilungu sub-county hospital management through Dr Everlyn Kitungo told The Standard Kirimi arrived while already dead.

"The body was brought in around mid-day accompanied by a student. No treatment took place. We got history from the teacher that the boy had complained of stomach upset the previous day, and was given medication but on the fateful day, the condition worsened and he collapsed," explained Dr Kitungo

But the school principal has insisted that the boy did not die at the institution.

"We did what we could to save the life of the boy by rushing him to the hospital. By the time of arrival to the hospital, he was okay and talking, but after some thorough checks he was confirmed dead," Muema told the media in his office

The Standard can authoritatively report that the student indeed died before arriving at the sub-county hospital. He was first taken to a private clinic where the medic on duty revealed to this writer that the boy had neither a central pulse, palpation nor heart sounds on auscultation.

"He was brought in but those who had accompanied him refused to give details. We confirmed he had passed on and they took away the body," said a medic at the private hospital.

A cousin to the deceased, Martin Mwenda said he was disappointment with the manner in which the matter was being handled and called on police to conduct thorough investigations.