Peterson Nene Kariuki woke up on October 18 looking forward to what appeared to be an ordinary, happy Sunday. He was to accompany his aunt, Winnie Wanjiku, to a church service where she would be commissioned into the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) Women’s Guild.
The 12 year old attended the service with his father, David Kariuki Ngeshoi, and his sister, Precious Wanjiku. The occasion went well, family members say, with the family celebrating the aunt’s milestone before plans for lunch at a hotel along the Kiambu-Ruiru Road.
Hours later, the family’s celebration had turned into a nightmare after Peterson drowned in a swimming pool at the hotel, leaving his father struggling to understand how a day that had begun with so much promise ended in the death of his youngest child.
Now, as police investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, the grieving family is demanding answers over the events leading to the boy’s death, including whether adequate supervision and emergency assistance were available at the swimming pool.
For Kariuki, a father of five, the loss has left a void that words can hardly describe. Peterson was his last born child, a boy he remembers as cheerful, peace loving and deeply devoted to his faith.
“He woke up that morning well and was a happy boy,” Kariuki said, recalling that the photograph being used by the family following his death was taken on the same day as they prepared to go to church.
The father had remained behind after the church service to attend to other duties at his Full Gospel Church, allowing his sister to take the children for lunch at the hotel, where she had arranged a meal for about 20 people.
He had expected his sister to bring the children home after lunch or for him to join them when he finished his church commitments.
Instead, he received a photograph and videos showing Peterson swimming, followed by a telephone call that would change his life.
According to Wanjiku, the family arrived at the hotel and Peterson immediately expressed interest in swimming after noticing the pool.
The boy assured his aunt that he knew how to swim, claiming he had done so many times before. Wanjiku, however, said she was concerned about his safety and wanted to ensure he used the shallow end of the pool.
She said she approached a hotel waiter and asked whether the establishment had personnel responsible for supervising swimmers and assisting people in difficulty.
The waiter reportedly assured her that such personnel were available and took her to a man she identified as a swimming pool attendant.
“I explained to him that I had seen the two swimming pools, one deep and the other shallow. Since I did not know the child’s swimming ability, I asked him to ensure he stayed in the shallow pool and to watch over him,” she said.
According to her account, the attendant offered Peterson swimming shorts after the boy said he intended to swim in his ordinary shorts.
Peterson changed and entered the pool while a domestic worker accompanying the family remained nearby to watch him, Wanjiku said.
She returned to the garden where the adults were seated, keeping in touch with her brother and informing him that his son was enjoying himself in the water.
Kariuki said he spoke to Peterson on the phone and was reassured that the boy was fine. He was also sent images and videos of his son swimming.
For a while, there was no indication that the afternoon would end in tragedy.
After lunch was served, however, Wanjiku said Peterson returned from swimming shivering from the cold.
She told him not to go back into the water and encouraged him to sit in the sunshine to warm up. The boy reportedly agreed and went to sit in the sun with his drink.
But according to Wanjiku, information she later received from people at the pool indicated that Peterson continued pleading with the domestic worker to allow him to swim again.
The worker allegedly refused, saying his aunt had instructed that he should not return to the pool.
Wanjiku said the worker later went to the washroom after asking Peterson to return to where his aunt was seated, leaving him holding her bag.
When she returned, the boy was missing.
The worker began searching for him before asking other children who had been swimming whether they had seen him.
They reportedly directed her to the pool, where Peterson was lying in the water and was no longer responding.
Wanjiku said the worker rushed to alert hotel staff and asked them to help remove the boy from the water.
According to her account, the workers said they did not know how to swim.
Two young men eventually entered the pool and retrieved Peterson, after which attempts were made to revive him.
Wanjiku said she was overwhelmed by the unfolding emergency and struggled to use her phone to contact her brother.
A fellow customer helped her communicate with Ngeshoi and relay the location of the incident so he could rush to the hotel.
The aunt said she also questioned the whereabouts of the pool attendant she had earlier asked to supervise Peterson.
She alleged that the attendant had left the swimming area, leaving children in the water without supervision. This account has yet to be independently established, and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain subject to investigation.
Wanjiku said she pleaded with hotel staff to help take the child to hospital as the family desperately sought assistance.
In the confusion that followed, different people reportedly gave conflicting information about the hospital to which Peterson had been taken, with some mentioning Kiambu and others Roysambu.
The family eventually travelled to Kiambu in search of the boy.
For Kariuki, the journey to the hospital was marked by mounting anxiety. He had received a call from a man using his sister’s phone, informing him that a child had been involved in an accident after swallowing water.
At the time, he said, he did not immediately know the full extent of what had happened to his son.
He hurriedly left his church duties and travelled to Kiambu with the help of church members, hoping to find Peterson receiving treatment.
On arrival, he said, he initially could not establish where his son had been taken.
He was later directed towards the hospital after seeing women carrying a child and rushing towards the facility.
“I took my child, ran with him into the hospital and laid him on the bed. When I saw him foaming at the mouth, I felt like my child was gone,” he recalled.
Hospital staff later informed the family that Peterson had been brought in dead.
The confirmation marked the end of the family’s desperate search and the beginning of a painful struggle to understand how the boy had died.
Kariuki said he was grateful to members of both the PCEA Kiambu Church and his Full Gospel Church, as well as friends and relatives, who rallied around the family during the difficult hours that followed.
The body was subsequently transferred to St Teresa Hospital mortuary after police documented the incident and the necessary transfer arrangements were made, according to the father.
Beyond the grief, the family is seeking clarity on the circumstances under which Peterson entered the water, the level of supervision provided and the response when he was discovered in distress.
Kariuki said he wanted investigators to establish the cause of death and determine whether any failures contributed to the tragedy.
He questioned whether a hotel that charges customers for its services should have adequate safeguards in place to protect people using its recreational facilities.
“I would like to know the cause of my child’s death and what justice can be done for him,” he said.
His concerns centre on the availability of trained personnel, supervision of children using the pool and the speed with which emergency assistance was provided.
The family’s account raises questions about the safety arrangements at the facility, but it does not, on its own, establish liability on the part of the hotel or any individual. Those questions will require evidence from investigators and the relevant authorities.
The family said statements had been recorded by police from Kariuki, his sister, the domestic worker who was with Peterson and another person who had helped care for the children.
The investigations are expected to establish the sequence of events and clarify the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.
Efforts to obtain a response from the hotel management were unsuccessful. A person at the establishment who said they were not authorised to speak to the media indicated that management would not comment because the matter was under investigation.
The hotel had not provided a substantive response to the family’s allegations by the time of publication.
As the family seeks answers, Kariuki is also left remembering the child Peterson was before the tragedy.
The boy was in Grade Five at Brain Sharpener Academy in Ngegu and had completed his examinations as he prepared to advance to Grade Six.
At home, his father said, Peterson often played the role of peacemaker, helping reconcile family members whenever disagreements arose.
“He was a blessing to our family, the church, the school and the community,” Kariuki said.
He recalled how Peterson would encourage family members to apologise after disagreements, helping restore peace between his siblings and their father.
The boy’s character, he said, was evident in the way he interacted with people around him, including relatives, friends and members of the church.
Peterson was also deeply involved in religious activities, according to his father, who said the boy often joined adults in prayer rather than remaining with other children during church services.
He had also participated in a four day period of fasting and prayer at Heaven’s Gate alongside his aunt, his father said.
For Kariuki, these memories make the loss particularly painful. Peterson was not simply the youngest of his five children that he was a source of unity in the household and a child whose presence brought joy to those around him.
The photograph taken on the morning of the church service has since assumed a different meaning for the family. What was once an ordinary image of a boy preparing to attend a religious celebration has become a reminder of the final day he spent with his loved ones.
The central questions now facing investigators include how Peterson ended up in the pool where he was found unresponsive, who was responsible for supervising swimmers at the time, what rescue measures were available and whether emergency assistance was provided promptly.
The family is also seeking an official explanation of the medical circumstances surrounding his death.
For Kariuki, no answer can restore his son, but establishing what happened is essential to securing accountability and potentially preventing another family from enduring a similar loss.
“I want justice for my child,” he said.
As the investigations continue, Peterson’s family is left mourning a 12 year old whose final Sunday began with church, family and celebration but ended in a tragedy that has raised difficult questions about swimming pool safety and the protection of children at recreational facilities.
