A promising construction project in Kenya has been hit by a sad event. 

At the new Talanta Sports Stadium, which is being built for a big football tournament, a worker named Sammy Kyengo was found dead in a water tank. 

His family said he hadn’t been paid for months, and this tragedy has put a spotlight on the serious problems that construction workers in Kenya face, such as not getting paid on time and working in unsafe conditions. 

This event is a wake-up call for the country to make sure that as they build for the future, they do so safely and fairly for everyone.

Kyengo’s disappearance began on September 6, when his wife, Christine, reported him missing. 

His phone went dark that same day, leaving his family from Ngong in a state of growing worry. 

The week-long mystery came to a grim end when a colleague, while preparing a site for plastering, discovered Kyengo’s remains floating in a sump behind the new stadium terraces. 

The body had been covered with wooden boards, and police noted visible injuries to his head and neck, suggesting foul play rather than an accident. 

As police process the scene and an autopsy is conducted at the Nairobi Funeral Home, the KSh 45 billion stadium project remains closed, adding to the mystery and tension on site.

For Kyengo’s family, the tragedy is compounded by a painful context of workplace exploitation. 

His wife, Christine, revealed that her husband had been frustrated by months of unpaid wages before he vanished. 

“He told me the company had refused to pay them since July,” she said, adding that he intended to quit after demanding his money. 

This personal heartbreak echoes a broader pattern of unrest at the stadium, where workers had previously gone on strike in May 2025 to protest delayed payments.

The tragedy has left other workers shaken and afraid. 

“We are shocked and worried,” said Ivan Bongo, a coworker. “If one of us can disappear and end up dead inside the stadium, in whose hands are we safe?”

Kyengo, who was known to be a calm man with no enemies, was a source of support for his family. “He has been supporting me with school fees and rent,” his nephew, Paul Kioko, noted. “I don’t know how I will manage now.” 

Their pain and fear have ignited a renewed call for justice and accountability.

The tragedy at Talanta Stadium highlights a persistent and deadly problem within Kenya’s construction industry. 

While the country rushes to complete projects like the 60,000-seat stadium for the 2027 AFCON—a project that has already seen its completion date pushed back—worker safety and fair labor practices are consistently overlooked. 

Statistics show that falls and impacts from objects account for 64% of construction accidents, and sites like Bukhungu and Karatu have also faced similar worker strikes over wage delays.

Sammy Kyengo’s death serves as a stark reminder that while the nation builds toward a grand future, it must not do so at the expense of its people. 

His story is more than just a police probe; it’s an urgent appeal for leaders to fix the broken system and ensure that progress doesn’t come with such a tragic human cost.