It will never be the same for us, family says after accident

Fredrick Ochieng, the 10-year-old boy who died alongside his three nieces and nephew in a road accident on the Kericho- Nakuru highway.

When Ishamel Ogege convened a get together in his home on January 1, his aim was to begin the year with the Lord as it had been his routine every year.

But this time round, the prayers seemed to have been opening his way to the hereafter alongside his son and four grandchildren after they perished in a road accident hours later.

Yesterday, his Kakal village in Nyakach, Kisumu County, was in mourning following news of the grisly Londiani accident that claimed the lives of the 67-year-old Ogenge and his kin, all in one fell swoop.

Unable to come terms with the tragedy, some relatives simply stared into the sky, others wept uncontrollably while others struggled to remain brave.

Could hardly walk

At Kenya Railways Staff quarters in Londiani, Millicent Ogege was inconsolable. The pain of losing her four children, their grandfather and uncle was too much for her to bear 24 hours later after the news reached her.

At the snap of a finger, she had lost her first born daughter, Sharon Otieno, 16, who was to be a Form Four candidate at Kipkelion’s Mercy Girls Secondary School, Agnes Omuya (12), Edmond Owino (10) and Laura Akoth (3) the last born.

Overwhelmed by grief, she could hardly walk and had to be supported by relatives to enter a vehicle ferrying them to Kericho District hospital mortuary to identify the bodies.    

Only, the children’s father Jacob Oyugi Ogege, 40, a casual laborer summoned the energy to walk out of their tiny two room house to narrate the sad tale of losing four out of the family’s five children.

It was only sheer luck that their only surviving child, 13-year-old, Ester Rita, a second born in the family was staying in Mombasa with relatives.

“I last saw my children on December 22 when I released them to go to the village to enjoy Christmas with our extended family members. I was longing to see them yesterday but I was shocked to be informed that they had been involved in a road accident and they were gone (dead),” said Mr Ogege.

He remembered his children with choice words of loving father. “Each of my children was joyful and I loved them dearly. We had great hopes especially on Otieno for her academic brilliance since she was one of the best performing students in her class and I expected her to join university after completing her Form Four studies,” said Ogege.

Tears of sorrow were also running down, Evans Meso who was not only mourning the death of his three nieces and a nephew in the accident but his father and youngest brother (Meso) Fredrick Otieno (10).

“My father, brother, three nieces and a nephew left Oyugis yesterday without a hitch. Dad even called me when they got to Kericho town and told me he was just a few kilometres from reaching Londiani and will call once he got there,” said Meso.

Mystery to us

But when no one thought anything could go wrong, it did.

“As I was concentrating on the water project my father had instructed me to do before leaving the village, a call came through around 1pm and I also received a picture of a mangled car resembling my father’s. I refused to believe that my family members were involved in the accident until I came to Kericho,” he said.

He nonetheless said he couldn’t believe that his father had caused the accident.

“When I heard that one of the vehicle’s wheels had a tyre burst which caused the accident, I couldn’t believe it since before the fateful journey, we had taken the car for mechanical service. How the accident occurred is still a mystery to us. We will never know the truth because there was no survivor in Mzee’s car,” said Meso.

He described his father as a hardworking man. The late Ogege worked at Londiani sub county hospital where he supplied groceries.

“My father was a compassionate man who never ignored anyone in need. That is why even in old age he still worked hard to support his sons and daughters who are yet to establish themselves,” said Meso.

Ogege’s neigbour and family friend Brigid Oduori described the death of six family members as devastating news to the local community.

“They have all left a huge hole which will never be filled in our hearts. I will miss the late Ismael Otieno Ogege the most since he was an astute businessman who did a lot for the community,” she said.

Ogege Jnr, said burial arrangements for the six was a heavy burden to the family.

“The burial arrangement of even one person is a heavy burden and we appeal to well-wishers to come forward to assist us give the departed family members a decent send off,” he said.

Boaz Omondi, Ogege’s cousin, appealed to the county governments of Kisumu and Kericho to help give the deceased a decent send off.

Mzee Ogege left his home on Thursday morning with seven other people in his Peugeot 504.

In the car were his two daughters, a son and four grandchildren. The two daughters would be dropped at Oyugis, before Mzee proceeded to Londiani with a son and four grandchildren.

Wilson Byron, Ogego’s third born son who was to accompany his father to Londiani was yet to come to terms with the loss which he termed as a disaster to the family.