By Talarus chesang
The recent death of a head teacher adds to six the number of people who have allegedly committed suicide in the remote villages of Bosei and Kapkiamo in Baringo North Sub-county since 2018.
On Saturday, October 23 hundreds of mourners converged for the emotional final send-off of the latest victim Mwalimu James Chepkangor, 47 who was the head teacher of Bosei Primary School.
The mysterious deaths have been termed by the villager as ill-omened demise caused by an angry ancestral spirit.
“He went missing from home on Tuesday, 12th October before his lifeless body was found hanging on a tree in a forest near his home later on Sunday 17th October,” the deceased’s brother Johana Kandagor said.
The latest incident adds to the number of at least six people who have lost lives through this mysterious way in the sleepy village since 2018.
According to Ossen-Kabartonjo ward MCA Joel Kipchew, the number of suicide cases reported in the area has hit an alarming rate.
The legislator stated that there was more to the happenings than meet the eye and that something should urgently be done to evade more such deaths in the area.
“There must be a bad spirit taking away the lives of our people,” the MCA said.
Locals however attributed the worrying trend to witchcraft linked with the bad spirits of the departed ancestors.
“Maybe our ancestors are not happy with the on-goings in the village and so they are coming back to claim the lives of our people as a warning. Or someone has cast a spell on us,” an elder said during the funeral.
Reports however indicate the residents of Bosei and Kapkiamo villages since time immemorial had such cases of suicide among some family lineages.
The church leaders and the elders however called for intercessory prayers in the area to destroy the bad spirits tormenting the lives of the people.
In January last year, a form three school girl allegedly killed and buried his 6-month old baby before committing suicide in the same village.
Back in March 2018, Bosei Day Secondary School Principal Norah Koech, 40, was allegedly found hanging in her room for reasons not ascertained to date.
The same thing happened in 2019 when a lifeless body of a retired army Private Chepkwony Kimosop was found dangling outside the door of Matatu driver who is also a former KDF soldier believed to have had an affair with his wife.
The Sub-county Police Commander Fredrick Odinga confirmed the incident though he said the cause of the teacher’s death could not immediately be ascertained.
“Our officers have launched investigations into the matter to find out what really happened leading to the death of the teacher.” he said.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Baringo branch Joshua Cheptarus condoled with the family urging the authorities to fast track investigation into the matter.
Cheptarus further attributed the rising suicidal incidents to the challenges accompanied with the adverse effects of Covid-19 pandemic saying many teachers and locals are currently undergoing fatal psychological ailments.
“Majority of the stresses are as a result of meager earning against the huge family responsibilities and hard economic times,” he said.
He therefore expressed the need for urgent psychological counseling forums to be undertaken among the teachers and other people across the country in order to save lives.
Odinga however cautioned residents against rushing to commit suicide urging individuals to report cases to the authorities to avert occurrence of such preventable and otherwise premature deaths.
The late head teacher has left behind among several family dependents two widows and six children.
