The life of a doctor was tragically lost when he was swept away by the powerful currents of Lwang’ombe stream in Ilala village, Shinyalu sub-County in Kakamega.
This unfortunate incident occurred amidst the widespread flooding crisis that has affected the entire country.
After a day had passed, the doctor’s body was discovered entangled among the branches of trees within the swollen stream.
It is believed that Mr. Ronald Salimu Musume, a 72-year-old psychiatric doctor, drowned while attempting to cross the swollen stream using two poles as a makeshift bridge.
On regular days, the local residents opt to use this connection across the stream instead of vehicles as a convenient shortcut to reach Shirere on their way to Kakamega town.
However, this time, the raging waters proved to be treacherous.
Dr. Musume’s wife, Fridah Okuku, revealed that her husband had left their home in Ilala village on Friday morning to go to Kakamega town. He had plans to establish a private medical center there but tragically, he never returned home.
“Since we have another home in Kakamega town, I assumed he had spent the night in town because of the heavy downpour that pounded throughout the week.
“The next day, I called him on his mobile phone, but it did not go through. I waited patiently knowing he was safe,” narrated Ms Okuku.
On Saturday, Ms Okuku received a call from a neighbour informing her that the body of her husband had been discovered in the water, some 50 meters away from their home.
“I had just come from the farm when I received the call. I lost strength and sat down even without talking to the caller. She called again, instructing and directing me to rush to the location where his body had been discovered. I managed to wake up and staggered to the location,” she explained.
It is suspected that he slipped and fell in the fast moving waters which swept him downstream when it was raining heavily. Locals helped to retrieve the body.
Dr Musume served as a psychiatric doctor at the Kakamega County General Hospital up to 2021 when he retired but was serving in a private clinic within Kakamega town.
His eldest son Albert Mandela said their father was the sole source of income for the family and his death had hit the family a big blow.
“We have been relying on him and looking up on him to provide for the family. We don’t know how we shall manage to cope up in his absence,” said Mandela.
