One of the young men who went berserk during the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment in Malindi on Thursday died early Friday morning under unclear circumstances.
Maxwell Saro, who turned violent and caused drama during the recruitment exercise at the Alaskan Grounds in Malindi town, was pronounced dead at the Ebenezer Medical Centre, a private health facility within the tourist resort town.
Maxwell’s father, former Langobaya Councillor Joseph Saro, tearfully told the Kenya News Agency on phone that his son was in good health when he went for the exercise, and that the 24-year-old man’s death was a shock to the family.
Apparently, Maxwell had always dreamt of being a soldier and had even told his father not to take him to any college as he was determined to join the Kenya Defense Forces. His failure to secure a spot during yesterday’s exercise could have led to his premature death.
The senior Saro said he personally took his son for the exercise where he witnessed the young man running his heart out, emerging number seven out of the hundreds of participants.
“However, when he arrived, he turned violent and had to be contained by the recruitment officers, who took him to a tent and stabilized him. I later took him home, as he had fully recovered, but he remained restless,” Saro said amid sobs.
He said when they reached home, the young man looked a little depressed and he (the father) counselled him that his dream would one day come true, but the young man refused to eat food.
“I bought him milk and oranges, but he said he was feeling tired and cold, so I left him to rest. At about 5.00 pm, he woke up and I gave him the oranges and milk, but later he started complaining again that he was feeling weak and cold,” the father said.
He said he took his son to a health facility in Ganda area where the health worker said the young man’s blood level had gone too low, and hence put him on two bottles of drip fluid containing sugar to boost the level.
He said his son got better but they were forced to spend the night at the health facility to avoid flouting curfew rules till 5.00 am Friday when they returned home.
“As I was making tea, Maxwell turned violent again and I called his brother, who rushed to our house on a motorcycle and we rushed him to the Ebenezer Medial Centre where he was pronounced dead,” he said.
by Emmanuel Masha
