Man kills self after selling off home land

A 52-year-old man from Kaptoroi village in Ainamoi constituency committed suicide after selling the family land.

Chief Richard Bett said Joseph Kogo, a father of seven children, was found at dawn dangling from a tree branch in his compound.

“The man is believed to have taken his life after land buyers to whom he had sold his land finally came around to claim their property, leaving him with a tiny piece of land as his inheritance,” Mr Bett said.

The administrator said Kogo's family had reported that hours before he committed suicide, he had appeared restless. 

“He kept going in and out of the house while muttering that the night appeared to be 'longer than usual',” the family told Bett.

When Kogo, who was a labourer at a local private school, left the house for the last time, his family told the chief that they thought he had gone to work. 

“It was only at around 5am when one of the family members got out of the house and was shocked to find Kogo had committed suicide,” said Bett. 

The matter was reported at the Nyagacho Police Station. Officers later took Kogo's body to the Kericho Hospital mortuary.

Separately, the body of a 10-year-old boy who drowned in River Chemosit Saturday afternoon has been recovered.

The pupil from Kapkosom Primary School in Bureti had gone swimming with seven friends when the incident occurred.

Kabartegan assistant chief Leonard Rugut said the body was found trapped underneath debris in the deep part of the river.

"Since the time of the incident, local divers have been searching the river for the body. They only managed to retrieve it three days later with help from divers from Bomet," Mr Rugut said.

The body was moved to the Kapkatet Hospital mortuary.