How a burial trip cut short the lives of six friends

When six friends left Nairobi to attend a funeral in Nyakach, Kisumu County, little did they imagine that was the last routine that had for years, cemented their friendship.

Whenever there was a burial upcountry, it was normal for David Madara Ogude, William Ochieng, Eric Alanda, Job Okoth, Boniface Oluoch and Peter Ogola to travel together in the same vehicle.

But that routine came to an end in the wee hours of Saturday, October 25, when the close buddies perished in a road accident at Soy Sambu area of Gilgil along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway after their Toyota Probox car was involved in ahead-on collision.

According to police accounts, Oluoch who was driving the Probox had attempted to overtake another car when it rammed a truck heading in the opposite direction.

Following the impact, the six died on the spot, cutting short their lives few hours after they had buried the relative of George Onyango, an official of their welding association. 

The Onyango's grandmother was buried in Nyabondo village of Nyakach where the six attended the ceremony the previous day.

Normally, when a member of the association losses a relative, it is expected of colleagues to pool resources and attend burial – a routine Madara, Ochieng, Alanda, Okoth, Oluoch and Ogola stuck to their deaths.

READ: Burial trip turns tragic as six are killed in road accident

“On Thursday when he woke before leaving for work, he requested I pack for him some few belongings since in the evening they will travel to Nyakach to attend the burial of the grandmother of one of their member,” recounted Janet Awino, the wife of Madara.

For close to 15 years they lived together, Awino has witnessed Madara attend several burials of colleagues, and the Nyakach trip was not unusual. Similarly, Madara’s friends have never disappointed whenever the family is bereaved. They condoled Madara in May this year when he lost his elder brother.

“It had become a routine for the six to travel together in their Probox car. It is so unfortunate that we have lost all of them,” said George Ouma Ogude who is Madara’s younger brother.

The death of the 43-year-old welder has left the family devastated. Madara was the sole-bread winner. The father of five was a well-known welder at construction sites in Mihang’o, Ruai and Kamulu. 

Madara’s body was removed from Gilgil Sub County Hospital Mortuary and transported to Nairobi for preservation at Kenyatta Funeral Home as burial arrangements are conducted at his house in NObama Estate in Nairobi.

Interestingly, Madara, Ochieng, Alanda, and Okoth lived in the same neigbourhood Road while Oluoch and Ogolla resided in Chokaa, which is not far.

The six had a close-knit friendship, nurtured during their welding work at several construction sites where they eked their daily living.

In an interview at their house, a distraught Awino, 39, was struggling to come to terms with the loss of her husband who has left her with the burden of raising five children with eldest being 14 years while the last aged six.

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However, she remembers the last time she spoke on phone with Madara. It was a Friday evening after the burial in Nyakach.

“He called in the evening information me that they had concluded the burial ceremony and were preparing to return to Nairobi the very night,” said the housewife. “He told me to take good care of the kids and promised to be in the house by 4am.”

Unfortunately, at 4am, Madara and his friends breathed his last in the fatal accident at Soy Sambu.

Ouma, his brother was the first to be alerted by a strange caller who informed him at around 5am his brother was badly injured following the accident.

After breaking the news to Awino, Ouma and other relatives travelled to Gilgil. But on the way, they learnt the six died on the spot and the bodies had been taken to the morgue.

“He was the family pillar, but now he is no more. It's him who held our family together. He taught me welding and I was his right-hand man at construction sites; the void left is too huge to fill,” said Ouma. 

Madara will be laid to rest on Saturday at their rural home in Gem of Siaya County, the same place where Oluoch who has already been interred, hailed. Ochieng who has also been buried, comes from Ugenya.

While Alanda was born in Kanaam in Homa Bay County same to Okoth while Ogolla’s ancestral home is in Seme of Kisumu County.

As the festive season approaches, police are asking road users to be extra cautious since accidents peak around this this period of the year.