By Maureen Odiwuor

Seated outside her house, the elderly disabled woman stares blankly in the horizon looking disturbed. Joyce Omedo is deep in thoughts as tears flow freely from her eyes.

“I have lost everything that life had offered me, everything that brought joy and happiness to my life,” she laments.

While the country was celebrating the 49th Madaraka Day, the disabled woman lost her two daughters. They drowned at a water pan in Obago village, Miwani Division of Kisumu County. They were her only children.

The girls, Keziah Atieno, 19, and Rose Olang’, 18, drowned when they went to bathe at the banks of the pan created by the waters of Nyando River after flooding.

breaking news

Atieno had just completed form four and was currently teaching at Nyarendo Primary School as an untrained teacher. She left behind a daughter aged three years. Omedo recalls how she got information that her daughters had drowned.

She says she was seated in her compound in Nyarendo Village as was routine since she could not walk, when a neighbour’s son approached looking distressed.

“I asked him what the problem was but he did not utter a word until 30 minutes later when unexpectedly he broke the news and left immediately,” recalls Omedo.

She says the news hit her hard adding she does not recall what happened immediately after that as she collapsed and lost consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, she says, she started crawling towards the farm in the neighbouring Obago Village, about three kilometres from their house.

She intended to go to the place where her daughters and three other relatives had gone to work that morning.

“I am only left with my grandchild. I am like a barren woman.  Who will come to my rescue?” she laments, her face full of tears.

Their cousin Mr Jaramogi Ogolla was among those who last saw the two girls alive as they had spent the whole day together tending to their farm.

Ogolla says the two sisters left them at the shamba at 4pm saying they were just around. They didn’t say where they were headed.

“We were startled by screams at the water pan only to rush and find clothes of the two around and villagers struggling to rescue them,” recalls Ogolla.

Mr Joshua Ngere who resides near the water pan was the first to arrive at the scene after her six-year-old daughter who had been watching them raised the alarm.

 

rescue efforts

“My little daughter told me that Rose fell in the water adding she could see Keziah trying to pull her out,” says Ngere.

Ngere then rushed to the scene but it was too late as the older girl, also drowned while attempting to save her.

“I dived into the water and tried to save them but the waters almost overpowered me, so I gave up,” Ngere says.

He says Rose drowned while totally naked but her sister had only removed her jacket.

After Ngere raised the alarm, villagers converged and began the search. They spent two nights keeping vigil at the water mass edge with hopes of recovering the bodies.

Red Cross Regional Manager Mr Emmanuel Owako says the bodies were retrieved on Saturday night at 10pm.

“We tried all tactics to retrieve the bodies and succeeded using nets,” he says.

The deceased’ uncle Mr Davis Olang’ says the bodies are at Nyanza Provincial Hospital awaiting a post-mortem examination. They will be buried tomorrow.

Nyando OCPD Patrick Mbarire says residents of Obago should take precautions while crossing the water pan.

He urges them to desist from bathing or swimming at the dangerous spot.