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A man in Trans Nzoia has had to endure cold nights by the river bank following a boat incident that led to the drowning of his friend.
“There has been a heavy down pour when we boarded a boat,in the middle of the river our boat was hit by a heavy wave and capsized. I tried to swim across the river to save my life and saw my friend being carried away by the water .That’s the last time i saw him alive,”Mr Ochieng’ narrated.
Tradition by the Luhya dictates that Osman Ochieng keeps vigil at the river bank until his friend who drowned when the boat the duo were using to cross the river capsized traveling with across the river went missing when there boat capsized.
Ochieng according to an elder must not go back to his home before the body of his friend is found as doing so could bring death to his family members.He is also not supposed to change clothes or bathe.
Mr Ochieng’s family are however allowed to stay with him during the day while at night he is left all by himself.
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The owner of the boat ,Ramadhan Rajab also claimed his boat has never capsized in the forty years he has had it and attributed the drowning to witchcraft even as area chief Mr Stephen Erodo warned villagers against using the boat.
Mr Rajab added that once the body is found, Ochieng’s family and that of the deceased have to slaughter a cock and a male goat to appease the spirits before taking the body for burial,the two families are also expected to eat the meat at the exact place where the incident took place.
“The person who will retrieve the body is supposed to be given a bull by the deceased family,”said Rajab.
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