Thirty years away from home is a long time and the family did not expect John Odhiambo, 76, to return.
His return has left family, friends, relatives and residents of Nyabeda village in Ugunja sub-county digesting the news with mixed reactions.
Odhiambo, 76, went missing from a prayer house in Nairobi on October 10, 1993.
His wife, Elizabeth Awuor, says her husband’s return opens a new chapter in her life after three decades without him.
“I can only praise God for answering our prayers. He has been away for three decades and his absence has made us go through so much as a family,” says Awuor.
Odhiambo’s sister, Angeline Okinyo, who took him home from Nairobi after he was found in Kariobangi, says her brother’s return has rekindled her life.
“We were just two children, brother Odhiambo and I. Today marks a new beginning after a long period of living like orphans. His presence brings back memories of growing up together,” she says.
After searching for him for months in 1993, the family gave up hope of ever seeing him again.
“It was a difficult moment for all of us three decades ago. We searched everywhere for him,” she says.
According to family members, Odhiambo fell ill in 1992, an illness that affected his mental health.
After searching for treatment in various places, the family took him to Nairobi, where a popular clergyman prayed for people with such problems.
“After trying all possible facilities without success, I went with him to Nairobi. At that time we were desperate. All we wanted was for our relative to get well,” she says.
However, things turned upside down when they visited the clergyman, whose supposed spiritual powers in exorcising demons were second to none; the family believed their relative was cursed.
“When we reached the prayer house, the prayers began in earnest. As usual, we closed our eyes while we prayed. Immediately we opened our eyes at the end of the prayers, he was gone and no one could find him,” says Okinyo, who had taken him there.
After an unsuccessful search, she reported back home what had happened at the prayer house.
Awuor, remembers travelling to Nairobi to join her sister-in-law in the search.
“There were no mobile phones in those days. I received a telegram from my children who were at school, so I organised myself and travelled to Nairobi immediately,” she recalls.
She continues: “I walked around the city looking for my husband. I went to all the places he might have gone; Mathare Hospital, police stations, prisons, hospitals and mortuaries, but I did not find my husband. After two months, because I had eight children at home, I returned to Ugunja.”
The information about the whereabouts of their missing relative came as a dream to the family.
Okinyo says her son, who lives in Nairobi, informed her of his whereabouts early last week.
“I received a call from my son informing me that he had found his missing uncle. He explained that someone called him as he was returning home from work and when he approached him, he identified himself and that is how he found out that it was indeed his missing uncle,” she says.
Although Odhiambo still suffers from mental health problems, his family is happy that he is finally home.
“He is not mentally stable, but he is home. It is not easy to forget your relatives like that,” she says.
Charles Ajwang, a relative and retired prison warden, said Odhiambo’s return was an answered prayer.
“Odhiambo is my age; we grew up together in the village. Last year we had a prayer convention where the priest who presided told us to write down our wishes and trust God to fulfil them. This was one of the wishes my sister-in-law told me to write on a piece of paper. Our God is a faithful God,” he says.
According to Luo tradition, when a man goes missing without a trace, after some time, family members bury yago or a banana trunk to symbolise his body, but Odhiambo’s family members are practising Christians and did not perform the ritual to have closure.
“We are Christians, so we did not have the ceremony. We trusted God to be with him, and today he is back where he belongs,” says Ajwang.
Odhiambo left his wife 30 years ago with eight children, of which five remain after three died.
