Residents of Kibomet-Naisambu in Kiminini constituency Trans Nzoia County were shocked to find the lifeless body of a middle-aged man hanging on a tree.
One of the area's opinion leaders, Julius Tallam told K24 Digital that the unknown man, aged between 38 and 40 years, did not leave any suicide note. He said that the man did not have any identification documents on him and that he only had a cellphone in his pocket.
"It is like this unknown man is a casual labourer in someone's farm and we suspect he could have hanged himself due to life challenges caused by the high cost of living," Tallam said.
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Police officers rushed to the scene and collected the body which is now lying at the Kitale County Referral Hospital morgue awaiting postmortem.
Tallam called on members of the public with stressing issues to disclose them to their confidants, counsellors and religious leaders who can help them get solutions.
"It is sad that we have lost such a young person who could have helped build our economy. I want to urge Kenyans who are battling stress to seek advice from friends and professionals instead of taking their own lives" he added.
Eliud Tormoi, a counselling psychologist in Trans Nzoia, said economic woes are leading to depression and that the mental condition often remains undiagnosed due to stigma.
"The rising trend of people taking their own lives is attributed to social disruption caused by COVID-19. I want to challenge the government to invest in improving public mental health facilities across the country" Tormoi said.
