A family at Koykoy in Saboti, Trans Nzoia County is crying for justice following the death of their son whose body was found dumped besides River Sosio in Kamukuywa area in Bungoma County after he went missing for six days.
Edwin Simatwa, 32, who was a teacher at Lukhome Baptist secondary school, went missing on August 4 when he had just left his rural home in Kiminini where he had attended a funeral of a resident in the vicinity.
Simatwa’s body was found at Kamukuywa riverside on August 9 after a long search with the wife which recalls that he never returned home after he send home shopping on a motorbike but he never showed up.
“We learnt of his missing on August 7 when my children said they had seen some messages on whatsapp announcing that he could not be reached. We immediately contacted the wife who confirmed the reports,” said Mrs. Priscilla Simatwa, the aunt.
Mrs. Simatwa accompanied the father Richard Simatwa to Kimilili to inquire about the whereabouts of the missing son upon which they caught up with a widowed woman who said her last encounter with the late was on one night.
“I saw outside my homestead at night and I thought he was a thief only to realize that it was him after I called neighbours to come to my rescue. They got hold of him but I told him against beating him,” said the widow.
She went on to narrate that the efforts to engage the seemingly troubled teacher bore no fruits as he only told them to take his phone if they wanted anything from him. He later left the home towards the riverside.
The family returned back home with no sight of the missing teacher only to receive a phone call on the Election Day that the body had been cited at the riverside. The body was taken to the Kimilili Sub County hospital morgue.
“We travelled to Kimilili to witness the post-mortem of the late after which it was revealed that he died of strangulation by a rope. The motive and the perpetrator behind the death remains a mystery to us,” said Dennis Simatwa, the cousin.
They are now calling on the police to speed up investigations into the murder incident with the father still coming to terms with the death of his son who was a breadwinner to the family.
Kimilili OCPD Lawrance Maroa called for patience saying they have launched investigations into the incident but no arrests have been made so far.