Uasin Gishu: Top Performer In KCPE Waiting To Join Form 1 Dies During Initiation

• A 14-year-old student, who excelled in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) with an impressive score of 395 marks, died while awaiting admission
• The teenager had joined his four cousins in Lelmwokwo, Nandi county, as part of a traditional initiation rite
• Unfortunately, it was during this seclusion period that he fell ill, and his health took a fatal turn thereafter

Cases of initiates succumbing to complications they develop in the seclusion camps after the cut has been on the rise lately.

KCPE top performer's dream quelled by traditional initiation rite

A 14-year-old recently died while waiting to advance to the secondary level after outdoing himself in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

He scored 395 marks and he was to join a prestigious school before death disrupted the plans.

According to reports, the youngster joined his four cousins in Lelmwokwo, Nandi county, where they got the cut before proceeding to seclusion.

It is in the seclusion that he was taken ill.

He succumbed after complaining of, among others, a headache.

Separately, police arrested three suspects, including the stepmother of a newly circumcised boy who was tortured for seven days "as part of his initiation ceremony".

Initiate tortured in Naivasha

His 15-year-old step-brother was also detained for allegedly working with the main suspect in torturing the boy with a hot metal rod.

Doctors in Naivasha Subcounty Hospital said the boy, who sat his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam this year, was suffering from low blood levels, and his body was covered in wounds.

Police and members of the public rescued the 15-year-old from the family’s home in Mai Mahiu after a week of torture, days after he was circumcised.

Naivasha OCPD Benjamin Boen said the suspects would be taken to court and charged with attempted murder.

He said the main suspect, who was supposed to be the boy’s guardian, was arrested in Nairobi, where he had gone into hiding after the matter went public.

The police boss said the mother gave contradicting information on why she failed to report the matter.