Giza Ziwani: Mystery of bruised and battered bodies found along Lake Nakuru

On February 18, Peter Purokuor Ebei was at his home at kwa Wanjiku village in Nyahururu, when he received a distressing call from one of his sons from Eldoret.

The son had just received a message from Nakuru informing him that the body of his elder brother Justus Ekimomor had been retrieved from Lake Nakuru.

The shocking news threw the man into panic and he embarked on a journey to Nakuru to authenticate the information.

Upon arrival, he went straight to the Nakuru city morgue where he identified the body of his second born son lying dead.

The 31-year-old had recently visited home over Christmas festivities and now was no more.

“His body had injuries all over his face and head. It was as if he had been badly beaten,” said Ebei.

A post mortem examination conducted by government pathologist Titus Ngulungu revealed the cause of death to be suffocation, thus ruling out drowning

However, the pathologist took samples to the government chemistry department for further examination.

Ebei is yet to receive the report weeks after burying his son, something that has left his entire family confused and yearning to find closure on what exactly happened to their son.

“So far it is not clear how my son met his death. We were told to wait until the autopsy report is out to know whether his death was natural or someone had a hand in it,” said Ebei.

The father’s situation is what most parents whose children are involved in the illegal fishing at lake Nakuru have found themselves in after dead bodies of their children were retrieved from the lake with clear signs of torture, but no one being held liable.

For the family of Gilbert Orege and Monica Akinyi, theirs is a matter of hoping for justice.

Their son Kelvin Ganira went missing after allegedly being arrested by the Kenya Wildlife Service officers before his decomposing body was discovered at the shores of Lake Nakuru, four days later.

Ganira, 18, had just finished his high school and was waiting to join University when he decided to keep himself busy by trying out fishing in Barut.

Her Aunt Ann Atieno said she received news of Ganira’s arrest on April 27, 2024 from his friends. The friends said they knew the arresting KWS officer by name.

She tried tracing him in vain so she made a missing person report at the Bondeni Police station who mounted a search.

On April 30, they found the body of Ganira lying at the shores of the lake a few meters from where he was allegedly arrested. It was swollen in the face with physical body injuries, which the family suspected was evidence of torture.

A witness, Jane Kamau said she was with Ganira doing their usual fishing when they spotted a KWS officer in a boat riding towards them. She and others managed to escape but they (KWS officers) got hold of Ganira who they beat on the head as they took him away.

Post mortem examination by Dr Ngulungu revealed that he had bruises on the mouth and an injury on the right side of the skull which was caused by a blunt object. According to the pathologist, the injury was the cause of death.

Until now, no single suspect has been arrested with the police claiming to be going on with investigations.

Another victim is Derick Otieno Odhiambo, 23-year-old whose death is also linked to his fishing activities at Lake Nakuru on June 15, 2021.

He was discovered lying unconscious on the shores of the lake after a brief altercation between fishermen and KWS officers.

A witness, Abiero Okello said they had gone to fish in the lake together with the deceased in Barut before the KWS rangers arrived and shot in the air demanding everyone to leave.

While everyone managed to escape, Otieno was arrested.

Okello said he witnessed the officers beat up Otieno on the head and back of the neck and right rib using the butts of their guns. They also whipped him using sticks.

When he found him, he had swollen legs and ribs before he rushed him to the Barut Medical clinic. He was however referred to the Nakuru Level Five Hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Post mortem conducted by Dr Ngulungu on June 29, 2021 revealed Otieno was tortured to death.

The cause of death was due to head trauma caused by a blunt object. He had internal injuries. The case was reported to Kaptembwo police station.

These deaths among others at lake Nakuru have continued to puzzle families and residents of Nakuru who are unable to push for justice for their kin after the suspects were not identified.

Human rights defenders have placed the number of deaths at eight since 2020.

The Nakuru county human Rights Network Convener David Kuria, in his analysis of reports based on the post mortems said the victims appear to have been brutalized and tortured to death.

Others he said were suffocated to death while others were shot and killed.

“It is obvious these callous murders were being perpetrated by the KWS officers who have been seen by witnesses arresting, whipping and shooting at the fishermen,” said Mr Kuria.

He however, accused the Police of covering up the cases to protect the perpetrators.

“We are calling upon the Inspector General of Police to initiate independent investigations into the killings and bring suspects of these heinous acts to book. We cannot continue losing innocent lives in the hands of public officers who acts if they are above the law,” said Mr Kuria.

He wondered why no single suspect has been arrested despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to specific culprits.

Tomorrow: We highlight the story of two men who went into the Park, never to be seen again.