Grief gripped Sipaki village in Sitikho sub-location, Webuye West Constituency in Bungoma County after the body of a 37-year-old man, who was one of the residents, was retrieved from the raging waters of River Kuywa.
According to the deceased’s family members, the late Emmanuel Wetala, who hailed from Sipaki village was last seen on Sunday evening with friends at Mechimeru market though he left home without informing the family where he was going.
“My brother left home on Sunday morning to an undisclosed destination, but later on we learnt that he had gone to Mechimeru market and he had fallen in the river while he was on his way back home,” said Aron Sifuma, the deceased’s brother.
The deceased fell in the river on Sunday night at 9pm, a frantic search to retrieve his body began immediately but all was in vain until Wednesday at 5pm when his body was found a few metres to River Nzoia with the help of local divers.
Confirming the incident Vitalis Opara chief for Mechimeru Location urged residents to be careful when crossing rivers, more so, he added that the footbridge on river Kuywa is very dangerous, therefore anyone crossing there should be sober.
“I urge the people to be very careful when crossing the footbridge on river Kuywa that connects Mechimeru and Sitikho since it is unsafe,” said Chief Opara. “When drunk it is advisable to use an alternative way than using this deadly bridge,” he asserted.
Local residents urged the area MCA to repair the footbridge since it is deadly.
“Our plea to the MCA is to repair this footbridge because it is the only one we always use for our business transports, as it connects Sitikho and Mechimeru,” they affirmed.
The body of the deceased was taken to his home for overnight burial according to Bukusu culture.
This comes a few days after one resident from the nearby Musabale area lost his life when he fell in river Nzoia.