Parents and Lamu residents have been asked to accompany their children to swimming expeditions in the Indian Ocean to ensure they are safe.
Lamu tends to record increased swimming accidents and deaths during the festive season with the majority of the casualties being unaccompanied children.
Assistant county commissioner for Hindi division Silvestre Rotich observed that the number of children flocking various beaches to swim during the festive season was extremely high.
Rotich asked parents to ensure they keep an eye on their children so that they have no one else to blame in case of accidents at sea.
He said parents have two options when it comes to swimming at sea; either accompany their children or prohibit them from going swimming altogether.
He said the Indian Ocean is currently experiencing heavy tides, which makes swimming a dangerous affair.
“The number of children coming to the beaches for fun and especially swimming is quite higher than what we are used to and so to avoid incidents of drowning, we are asking parents to accompany them. Better still, if you have no time to accompany your child, ask them not to go. We don’t want any excuses in case of accidents,” Rotich sad.
He reiterated the same message to visitors whose children are visiting Lamu for the first time.
“For those who are here on holiday for the first time, kindly don’t allow your kids to go swimming unaccompanied. We understand some of them have never swam in the ocean before,” Rotich said.
Lamu County Child Initiative executive officer Abdulaziz Sadiq urged parents to help their children acquire basic swimming techniques before allowing them to swim in the Indian Ocean.
He said that way, there will be fewer cases of children drowning at sea.
“Parents need to teach their children how to swim or enrol them for swimming classes before allowing them to swim at sea. You can’t take a child who is only used to swimming in the pool and expect them to do well at sea,” said Sadiq.
He warned parents against letting their children swim when the tide is high and unfriendly.
“When the tide is high, not even the best swimmers venture out to swim in the ocean and many that did, most of the time, it never ended well. Better safe than sorry,” he added.
Edited by Henry Makori
