This archive report was first published on 16 September 2021.
Published on September 16, 2021, a report by Nationmedia.com highlighted the alarming rise in suicide cases in Bomet County.
According to the report, over 30 people have died by their own hands in the past eight months, with the majority being schoolchildren and young people in their prime.
Uswet village in Kapletundo ward, Sotik constituency, has registered the highest number of suicide cases, with 10 cases reported in that period.
Three cases in Chepalungu constituency involved victims who had been diagnosed with cancer, one of the leading causes of death in the South Rift region.
Stanley Mutai, the Bomet senior disaster management official, attributed the surge in cases to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has brought socio-economic problems to families.
"We have cases of youths taking their lives over complicated or failed love relationships, affliction by various diseases and lack of finances or employment," Mr Mutai said.
Among the dead, he said, were 14 schoolchildren, while the rest were middle-aged people and the elderly.
The county used to register between six and 10 cases a year, but the numbers have increased three-fold in the past eight months, raising concerns among stakeholders.
Experts have called for youths to undergo counselling to face the challenges in society, and for the Ministry of Education to hire and post professional counsellors to schools to support learners.
Paul Kimetto, the Kenya National Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Bomet branch executive secretary, said the suicide cases need to be addressed.
Dr Joseph Sitonik, the Bomet Medical Services and Public Health executive, said some of the cases were related to terminal illness or lack of medical fees.
"It is important for people in all classes of the society to seek professional counselling, which is available in our health facilities, to cope with the various challenges they face in life instead of dying by suicide," he said.
