• The rider who was operating from his village in Gaitega, Kiharu constituency, fell into the river on Saturday while heading to his sister's home.
• The body was retrieved from the river after three days.
A family from Kiharu, Murang’a county, is living in agony after a boda boda rider drowned in River Sagana.
David Kang’ethe from Gaitega area fell into the river at the Sagana bridge, which connects Murang’a county to Sagana town, on Saturday.
His father, James Gatimu, said his third-born son was on his way to Kagio town in Kirinyaga county to visit his elder sister when the accident occurred.
Gatimu, however, said it was yet to be known how Kang'ethe fell into the river. His motorcycle and one of his shoes were recovered in the river near the bridge on Sunday and taken to Murang’a police station.
Gatimu said after he was informed of the incident, his family immediately sought the help of local divers to try and save him.
But the divers demanded payment amounting to Sh80,000 which Gatimu said was too much for his family to raise.
“I was sick and in hospital for some time. I even had to walk close to 15km from my home to the scene when I heard about it,” he noted.
He, however, noted that his sister, who lives in Nyeri, was able to access the Nyeri Chania Divers Group, which immediately started rescue efforts.
The family camped at the river banks for days, waiting and hoping Kang'ethe would be found but worrying that the body may have been swept downstream to the vast Tana River.
Gatimu noted that the guard rails at the busy bridge have been destroyed and that they had been bound together using binding wire.
“The government should repair the guard rails to save lives because if they were intact, my son would not have drowned,” he said.
But the volunteers from Nyeri were ill-equipped and laboured for three days to recover the body.
According to Murang’a county police commander Josphat Kinyua, the rider’s body was found after it floated on Wednesday morning.
“The rider fell and got stuck in the rocks at the bottom of the river but the body floated after three days,” he said.
The Nyeri Chania Divers chairman Martin Gichuki said the spot where the rider had fallen was too deep and had pieces of metal at the bottom.
He said their lack of swimming gear hampered their efforts to retrieve the body and asked leaders and well-wishers to assist them to acquire the crucial diving equipment.
“If we had airbags and the proper swimming kits, it would make our work easier. Now we just interchange when one runs out of breath,” he said.
“People drown in dams and rivers and when we are called upon, we leave our work to go help. It is a calling,” Gichuki said.
The rider’s body was taken to Murang’a county mortuary escorted by boda boda riders.