On Wednesday, April 7, a 15-year-old girl who took the recently completed 2020/21 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) committed suicide.
Esther Kemunto Omaya took her KCPE in Manga Sub-County, Nyamira County, at Kiabira Primary School.
Her reasons for committing suicide were unknown at the time this article was published because no suicide note was discovered.
Kemunto’s body was discovered in Nyagetugo Village, hanging from a store on a sisal rope tied to the roof near her parents’ house.
Kemunto, according to her elder brother, may have committed suicide shortly after lunch.
“My sister had displayed no signs of depression. “She was always cheerful,” Kemunto’s elder sibling said.
Amos Mariba, Commissioner of Nyamira County, has expressed concern about the rising number of suicides.
“Families should be educated on how to deal with depression. Deaths can be avoided if depression is detected early,” he said.
This incident adds to a troubling trend of increasing suicides among students in the country in recent years.
On January 12, a student who was scheduled to take his KCPE committed suicide after being accused of stealing Ksh20.
During the same month, another candidate took his own life after his father failed to buy him a new phone.
