The family of a seven-year-old boy who drowned at the Milsview Hotel in Milimani, Kisumu, is demanding answers and a thorough investigation, accusing the facility’s management of a cover-up and refusing to address the incident. 

The victim, Brandly Otieno, a grade two pupil, had been attending a friend’s birthday party at the hotel alongside eight other children when the tragic event unfolded.

According to his father, Agastin Odongo, the child was left under the supervision of a family member and the hotel’s designated pool attendant while he briefly ran errands in town.

The family was alerted to the tragedy around 2pm when Odongo received a phone call informing him that his son had drowned and was receiving first aid.

Rushing back, he encountered hotel staff transporting the child to Aga Khan Hospital in a taxi, where doctors pronounced the boy dead within five minutes of arrival. 

“Around 2pm, I received a phone call informing me that my son had drowned but was receiving first aid,” said Odongo.

“I rushed back and found him being rushed to Aga Khan Hospital in a taxi. Doctors pronounced him dead within five minutes of arrival.”

Cover up

Suspicions immediately flared when hotel representatives at the hospital disclosed that the drowning had actually occurred an hour before the family was finally notified.

In the immediate aftermath, key personnel and management allegedly took measures to avoid accountability.

The pool attendant who brought the child to the hospital fled the medical facility, switched off his mobile phone, returned to the hotel solely to gather his belongings, and vanished. 

“Losing a seven-year-old child is not a joking matter,” said a friend of the family.

“The workers here are playing a cat-and-mouse game. We want to see justice served for this young boy, and we will stay here until the management and everyone who was at the scene come forward to record statements.” 

Meanwhile, top hotel management, including the manager and directors, went into hiding and refused to meet with the grieving family or issue an apology.

Odongo noted that when he attempted to confront the manager directly at the establishment, the administrator slipped out through a back exit and drove away. 

 “Accidents happen, but a clear conscience fears no queries,” Odongo said.

“They are hiding a lot about how my son died. I don’t need much; I just want to know what really transpired so that I can bury my son and let him rest in peace.”

Furthermore, the family claims that the management tampered with evidence by selectively handing over incomplete CCTV footage to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that conveniently excluded any visuals of the child or the incident.

The investigation has been further complicated by allegations of high-level interference and intimidation.

Threats to the family

Odongo revealed that a police officer stationed in Homa Bay called Wafula,who acts as a personal bodyguard to the hotel’s owner,called the lead DCI investigating officer in Kisumu and threatened him against pursuing the case. 

Horrified by the hostility and lack of answers nearly 24 hours after the death, family friends and supporters gathered outside the premises, threatening to occupy and close down the facility until every staff member and director present during the tragedy records an official statement. 

 “We are very sure there is CCTV footage, and they know what happened. We plead with them to come out, face the parents, and tell us the truth.”