ADVERT 
ADVERTA grieving father is searching for answers after his two young children drowned in a canal serving the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Scheme in what residents describe as a baffling afternoon tragedy.
Stephine Odhiambo Oduor of Mahero village lost his eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, shortly after the two children left Mahero Primary School for home.
The siblings, who were pupils at the school, were reportedly making their way home shortly after 3:30pm when they ended up in the irrigation canal.
Their deaths have left the family and residents of Mahero grappling with a troubling question: What exactly happened in broad daylight?
Details surrounding the incident remain unclear. According to information available to the family and residents, both children were familiar with the canal and understood the flow of its water. More significantly, residents say the water level at the time was relatively low.
ADVERTThat has raised questions about the circumstances that led to both children ending up in the canal.
It is not yet established whether one child accidentally fell into the water and the other attempted to help, whether both slipped simultaneously, or whether there were other circumstances that preceded the drowning.
Police officers at Ruambwa Police Station are investigating the incident, with all possibilities reportedly being considered as they seek to reconstruct the children’s final moments after leaving school.
The tragedy has also renewed concerns about the safety of irrigation canals located near communities and routes routinely used by schoolchildren.
For the Oduor family, however, the immediate concern is more personal: understanding how two siblings could lose their lives in circumstances that remain difficult to explain.
The children’s deaths occurred in the afternoon, when visibility was good and residents were going about their normal activities. The fact that the siblings were together has made the tragedy even more difficult for the family to comprehend.
Investigators are expected to establish the exact circumstances leading to the drownings, including the children’s movements after leaving school, the precise location where they entered the canal, the condition of the canal at the time and whether there were witnesses who may have seen what happened.
Until those questions are answered, speculation should be avoided.
But one question remains unavoidable for Mahero residents and, most painfully, for their father:
How did two children who knew the canal and were travelling home in broad daylight both end up dead in relatively shallow water?
The answer may lie in the evidence being gathered by police, witness accounts and the reconstruction of the children’s movements between Mahero Primary School and the point where their bodies were recovered.
For now, a family is mourning two children, while an entire village waits for answers.
