Finding the dead for a living in Siaya’s seductive river of death

YALA BODY RETRIEVER: Jonathan Okite Oturo has retrieved over 100 bodies from river Yala since 1976. He is currently searching for a secondary school teacher suspected to have committed suicide at Ndanu Water Falls. 19/06/15. PHOTO:TITUS MUNALA/STANDARD

Ndanu Falls in Siaya County is of breathtaking beauty. The scenic waterfalls and rocky backyard has over the years attracted local and foreign tourists who visit to meditate and enjoy the fragrance of nature.

But these falls in Yala also presents a dark side, with its meandering river, hanging cliffs and fast-flowing water being a perfect site for suicide. Police and villagers say many people, some from faraway places, have walked, driven or cycled to Ndanu to take their lives.

One of the victims was a female lecturer at Maseno University, who drove to Yala Township, parked her car outside a hotel and hired a motorbike to the falls. Her body was later discovered in the river.

Conversely, Ndanu Falls has also been a source of livelihood for a man who has helped many people retrieve bodies of their loved ones.

For 67-year-old Jonathan Okito Oturo, the falls has been a source of income for 39 years. It has helped him feed his family and pay school fees because recovering bodies is no cheap business. “The spot at which many people jump to their death is scary and not many people can venture there. This is where I come in. I have lived around here for long and I am not afraid,” he says.

Oturo wakes up every morning with a mission to retrieve bodies from the river. He claims he can smell the dead at the falls. But for bodies that take too long to surface, he claims a spirit speaks to him in his dreams and gives the exact location where they are in the river.

Oturo, a father of 13, started out as a businessman in Nairobi in 1968. His first job was with a company owned by an Indian, but in 1969 he returned to his village in Ginga in Yala Gem in Siaya County.

Oturo recalls his first search and retrieval mission at Ndanu Falls.  “My first encounter was a case of a child who was playing in Dhese Beach with his sibling in 1976. He drowned in the beach. I was woken up early morning,” said Oturo.

He swam through the dangerous falls to search for the body. He recovered the body at Yala Swamp in Rumbo, Central Gem. He became an instant hero.

Since 1976, Oturo says he has retrieved more than 100 bodies “including bodies of those who commit suicide due to domestic squabbles.”

Some of those he has rescued are from affluent families. Because he is a strong swimmer, Oturo does not think his is a dangerous pursuit. And despite the risks involved, he says he has to take up all jobs because he needs to feed his family. “In 1998 a woman whose husband worked at the local county council threw herself in River Yala after domestic disagreement. I recovered her body in Ndanu Falls after two months of searching. I also searched and found the body of a professor from Maseno University who had thrown herself into the water,” says Oturo.

He says knowledge of the water  has always been his guide, although sometimes his family fears for his safety. “I am ageing but I have managed to raise my family with the little money I get from grieving families. I use a life jacket when I swim and of course, I wear gloves when handling the bodies. The highest amount I have been paid is Sh150,000. I have trained one of my sons to help people the way I do, so that when I am gone, nobody will suffer,” he says.

Bereaved people from all walks of life visit Oturo in his home to seek help in their quest to ensure a loved one gets a decent burial.

Client waiting

As we drive towards the falls, we find Samuel Atete, a retired teacher from Butere, seated on a stone, reading a newspaper. He is waiting for Oturo to find his son’s body.

The man reportedly threw himself in River Yala last month because he had problems in his marriage, says the father. Atete says he has visited Ndanu Falls every morning with the hope of finding his son’s body. He says before he met Oturo, he was introduced to other divers who do the same job but who couldn’t recover the body even after he paid out more than Sh100,000. “My son Hillary, a teacher in Butere, had conflicts with his wife over a child born out of wedlock. On May 13 at 6pm, he went to River Yala, undressed, left his phone, laptop and bank documents, and threw himself into the water,” Atete says.

The man did not leave a note or message. Every time a body is retrieved from the river, Atete says he runs to the scene hoping it is his son’s remains.

After reporting to the police and writing statements, he was told to continue searching for his son’s body. “When bodies are recovered in Bondo by Oturo’s son, I send my brother to check if Hillary’s body is among them. I have tried prayers hoping I will get his body. Some people say our inability to find his body is as a result of a curse.  I hope Oturo succeeds, because he is my only hope,” said Atete.

The father has vowed to get Hillary’s body at all costs but he says if it is not found, he will have to organise a traditional burial without the body to let him rest in peace.

According to Japolo, a resident, some bodies get trapped in the rocks beneath the water and decay.