Maranda High School teacher, who went missing two weeks ago, has been found dead

By Mary Goretty Juma in Siaya County

Kevin Otieno Ongoma, a Maranda High School teacher who went missing on October 9, 2020, has been found dead.

Ongoma, a native of Mboshie Village in Ugunja Sub-County, Siaya County, went missing from Maranda High School premises in unclear circumstances.

“He left the school’s [teachers’] quarters on October 9, 2020 in the morning, and drove himself to [an] unknown destination. On previous two days (October 8 and October 9), he had a serious (sic) domestic dispute with his wife over undisclosed reasons,” a police report filed at the Ugunja Police Station on October 10 stated. Ongoma lived with his family at the teachers' quarters.

According to the report, Ongoma’s two cell phone lines were switched off around the same time. His car, a Toyota Fielder of registration plate KBQ 846B, was found on the banks of River Nzoia, the location where his phone signals were last traced to.

“It is highly suspected that Ongoma might have committed suicide by throwing himself into the river. However, investigations [are] on course to establish otherwise,” said the October 10 police report.

On Friday, October 23, Ongoma’s body was recovered from River Nzoia near Sio Port Police Station.

The body had decomposed, “but his family positively identified it as that of Kevin Otieno Ongoma,” a report filed at the Ugunja Police Station on Friday said.

“Ongoma’s body has been moved to Ambira Sub-County Hospital morgue pending postmortem and any further [police] action,” the report said.