Kenya Wildlife Service officers faced an angry mob at Kamunyuni, Mtito Andei Ward Makueni County along the Athi River.
This anger emanated from KWS’s perceived slow response in retrieving the body of a six-year-old child that a crocodile attacked on Sunday.
The child, a student of Athi Primary School in Kamunyuni, was said to have been attacked by the crocodile when they were drawing water from the river bank.
In interviews with the press, furious citizens expressed their discontent with the authorities’ inaction. This frustration is particularly strong given that the community mobilized their own search efforts the very same day of the attack.
The rescue operation has been characterized by challenges such as the rising water level of the Athi River and the presence of wild animals like crocodiles and hippos. But in this respect, the Red Cross has come to the rescue by putting up a camp on the river bank.
“We are angered by the government and the KWS. Since yesterday they have been around and they are yet to do anything,” said an elderly woman.
“Naona Kwa kweli kabisa ii ni njia Moja ya kupoteza evidence mtoto yetu apotee tangu jana mpaka sahii akuna usaidizi wowote wa serikali tumepata,” another local said.
