A village in mourning: Crocodile attacks turn River Athi into cemetery

When Yvonne Nzilani set out to fetch water from a section of the River Athi that passes through Kithaayoni Village in Makueni County a fortnight ago, she had no idea it would be her final trip. The Grade 9 student at Ndalani Comprehensive School was mauled by a crocodile, adding to a growing list of residents who have perished the same way in the region. She was 14 years old.

Yvonne had dreamt of becoming a doctor. She had a clear pathway towards her career goal, and a parallel ambition to set up an orchard. Seven young mango trees overlooking a fresh grave now welcome visitors to Bernard Wambua’s homestead. They tell the story of a girl determined to transform her family’s fortunes through environmental restoration. 

“Yvonne died while fetching water to keep her upcoming mango orchard alive,” her mother, Winfred Kamene, told Healthy Nation.

The second-born in a family of eight had bought the mango seedlings with a Sh500 gift from her teachers, awarded for topping a test, Kamene revealed. The teenager believed the orchard would one day support her university education. “Yvonne was among a handful of bright students in her class who aspired to study medicine after senior school,” 
Daniel Muli, a teacher at Ndalani Comprehensive School, told mourners during her emotional send-off a week ago.

For Wambua, watching helplessly as the reptile dragged his daughter’s lifeless body towards the middle of the river has continued to haunt him. In a desperate bid to rescue Yvonne, he attempted to throw himself into the crocodile-infested waters but was restrained by members of the community. A team of daring youths eventually retrieved her body using machetes and sticks, fighting off the reptile to yank her from its jaws.

The tragedy that befell Wambua’s family is the latest in a region that, according to the Kenya Red Cross and other independent sources, has lost more than 20 residents to crocodile and hippopotamus attacks in the last year.

Two weeks before Yvonne’s death, villagers in the sleepy region set out to recover the body of a local farmhand, Daudi Soo. The father of three is believed to have been mauled by a crocodile while bathing on the riverbank.

In another tragic incident on March 20, Kyumbu Makau lost his life trying to rescue Musenya Wambua from a crocodile attack while she was drawing water from the river at Nzeveni Village in Makueni County. Villagers recovered their bodies three days later. In May, Michael Muindu Mativo was mauled while crossing the river at Kikome, also in Makueni County.