Family prays kin who disappeared from hospital is still alive

An old photo of Samuel Ngavi. His wife has had hard time explaining to her younger children who are nine- and 12-years-old where their father went to. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Samuel Ngavi developed what was believed to be cerebral malaria between 2009 and 2010.

It was all well with the peasant farmer and father of four from Khuvasali, Kakamega County, until he developed the “strange” ailment that made Ngavi, born in 1974, turn wild.

“He suddenly started beating our children and me for no reason. It became worse when he threatened to assault us with knives and pangas. I was forced to keep machetes and knives out of the house,” said Sarah Kadogo, Ngavi’s wife.

Fearing for her life and the lives of her children, Kadogo fled with the children to her parents’ home in August 2009 when Ngavi’s condition worsened.

“He was so violent, forcing us to bind him with a chain. I left him in the care of my in-laws who promised to help him,” she said.

In 2010, Ngavi’s father, Kwayia (now deceased), and his uncle Julius Disi embarked on the process of having him get medical attention.

He was taken to a government-run medical facility in Khuvasali and later  transferred to Kakamega General Referral Hospital (now Kakamega County Referral Hospital), kilometres away.

“We booked him at the facility in November 2010 and returned to Khuvasali. We came back the following day to check on him and found him missing. We inquired his whereabouts from the hospital personnel who told us that he walked out of Ward 9 towards Shinyalu,” said Disi, who had taken the ailing Ngavi to hospital along with Ngavi’a late father.

The family started the search, asking anyone who cared to listen if they had seen a man looking like Ngavi. No one had seen him or anyone fitting the description they gave.

This search-journey sent them to Kapsabet, Eldoret, Mombasa and innumerable police stations and nearby morgues with no success.

“My brother Kwayia Ingabi died looking for his son. He sold cows, leased land and spent every little savings he had on the search hoping to reunite with him. Unfortunately, he died without seeing his son again,” said Disi.

Ngavi’s father’s death slowed down the search. Almost six years later, Ngavi’s family has spent thousands of shillings looking for him without any success.

“People say that he has been spotted in Mombasa, Eldoret and many other towns. We have always heeded and visited the towns without success. We have visited diviners and prayer men who assure us that he is still alive but they have not been able to tell us his whereabouts,” said Margret Kwayia, Ngavi’s mother.

Ngavi’s wife, Kadogo, later returned to her matrimonial home in August 2014 with their children and is currently doing mixed farming besides running a small business.

“The greatest challenge is educating and feeding the children. My business of selling maize grains does not bring in enough. I don’t know what will happen when they reach secondary school,” she said of her children, the eldest of who will sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education this year.

She has had hard time explaining to her younger children who are nine- and 12-years-old where their father went to.

The two, she says, hardly have an idea how their dad looked because he left when they were only three- and six-years-old, respectively).

She, however, remains optimistic that she will finally find her missing husband.