Police in Lugari Sub-county have launched investigations into the death of a school Principal, whose body was discovered on Saturday in River Kipkaren, six days after he allegedly vanished from an accident scene.
Simon Isiaho Shange, Munyuki Mixed Secondary School Principal, allegedly went missing in the early hours of Monday, November 3, after his car crashed into a truck at stage Omega near Lumakanda junction, along the Eldoret-Malaba Highway.
Lugari Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Linet Orina and Sub-County Police Commander, Robert Kurgat, who witnessed the retrieval of the body, regretted the incident, vowing to expedite investigations to ascertain the truth.
“On Monday when we were commencing The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination officially, we received an accident report at around 10 o’clock, but we didn’t know the vehicle involved belonged to one of our principals, because the driver had disappeared mysteriously,” she said.
“However, after a while we discovered it belonged to Munyuki Mixed Secondary School Principal. We immediately began the search for the principal in collaboration with the family without success,” Orina explained.
“But today in the morning we received a report that there is a body floating on River Kipkaren in the Munyuki area. I immediately instructed the area Chief and police officers to go to the scene. They retrieved the body, and it was confirmed to be that of the missing Principal,” DCC said.
Orina appealed to members of the public to remain calm and avoid speculation, to allow the investigators to do their job and ascertain the truth.
Kakamega KUPPET Chair, Johnston Wabuti, termed the incident unfortunate and unfair to the teaching fraternity across the county.
“A Principal leaves his house to go to school in the morning, gets involved in an accident, and then today his body is discovered rotting in a river,” Wambuti wondered.
“We are calling upon the government to undertake thorough investigations and bring the culprits to book,” he said.
“We want to get an exact report on what happened; failure to do which on Tuesday, we shall mobilise and withdraw all principals from schools in the region and disrupt the ongoing national examinations,” declared the KUPPET Chair.
Kakamega Deputy Governor, Ayubu Savula, also regretted the incident and called for speedy investigations.
“Today a school Principal has been found murdered, and his body dumped in a river. We want to be told from the accident scene to the river where his body was discovered what exactly happened,” he demanded.
“If a Member of the County Assembly was involved in the death, we want him arrested. If it is me, Savula, let me be arrested. If it is the Member of Parliament, let him be arrested. If it is the Officer Commanding Police Station let him also be arrested. No one is above the law,” Savula declared.
Members of the public regretted the incident, saying the mysterious death has left them with a lot of unanswered questions because initially they were told the principal was involved in an accident, but now the body has been discovered in a river, about seven kilometres away.
By Melechezedeck Ejakait
