Veteran scuba diver Volker Bassen has promised to recover the bodies of Mariam Kighendi and Amanda Mutheu free of charge if given the chance to do so.
Speaking exclusively to Standard Media Group-owned Kenya Television Network (KTN) on Thursday, Mr Bassen said it was not about the money but giving the husband of the lady who drowned alongside her daughter a level of closure.
"What can I say, when you risk your life, how much is your life worth? I am not gonna go that way. What is important for me in this sense is that the husband gets closure because I can see myself in that situation. I have five children myself and whatever we can do we can do it is not about the money," Mr Bassen said.
Bassen's response came after being asked how much he would charge were he to be asked to undertake the delicate recovery operation.
A private diver hired by the family is said to have been paid Sh100,000 as down payment for his services in recovering the body of the two victims.
Governor Hassan Ali Joho has reportedly paid a South African firm Sh2 million to undertake the recovery effort.
The recovery effort has not yielded any fruit with the government laying the blame for the sluggish nature of the operation on a bewildering array of complicating factors including the dirty water and the depth involved.