“He Left Home Healthy”: Mother’s Anguish as Son Dies Suddenly at School in Nakuru

Parents wheeled the boy’s body from hospital to the school compound in a dramatic protest demanding answers over Moses Joseph’s death.

A wave of anguish and public outrage has descended on Moi Primary and Junior School in Nakuru after a Grade Eight pupil died under circumstances his family described as deeply troubling, sparking a dramatic demonstration that drew crowds and stretched police resources on what should have been an ordinary school day.

The deceased has been identified as Moses Joseph. His family says he left home in good health on the morning of the incident, making the news of his death all the more devastating and difficult to comprehend.

His mother, Lillian Moraa, recounted the final moments she saw her son alive. “Nilimuamsha asubuhi na hiyo strong tea ilikuwa ready, akavaa na kuondoka,” she said — a Swahili account that translates to her having woken him up, his morning tea already prepared, before he dressed and left for school without any indication that something was wrong.

What Happened at the Hospital

Officials at Nakuru Level Five Hospital confirmed that teachers from the school brought the boy to the facility, but that he was already dead upon arrival. Following confirmation of his death, medical staff advised the teachers to leave the body in a preservation unit and return with a formal police notification of death before any further steps could be taken.

The situation escalated sharply when the boy’s parents arrived at the hospital before that process could be completed. In an emotionally charged scene witnessed by members of the public, the family wheeled the boy’s body out of the facility on a trolley and transported it to the school compound, where it remained for more than an hour as police worked to manage an increasingly distressed and volatile crowd.

Officers eventually returned the body to Nakuru Level Five Hospital, but for grieving parents gathered at the scene, the intervention did little to address the questions left unanswered about what had transpired before Moses’s death.

Authorities Launch Investigations

Nakuru County Education Director Victoria Mulili confirmed to Citizen TV that she had received a formal report on the incident and that investigations had been launched to establish the full circumstances surrounding the pupil’s death.

The nature of those circumstances remains unclear, and no official cause of death has been publicly disclosed. Families of other learners at the school have joined Moses’s relatives in demanding transparency and a thorough inquiry.

The incident has cast a shadow over the school community and reignited broader questions about child welfare and accountability within learning institutions across the country.