Barely three months ago, Roseline Akoth Ogongo packed her bags, bid her mother and three children goodbye, and left Asembo with one mission – to win the rat race that is life in Nairobi.
The youngest of three sisters, Roseline’s formal education ended after high school, as her family could not afford fees beyond that level.
Roseline was a mother of three, with the eldest being 10 years old.
She was 24, an indication that Roseline gave birth to her firstborn just after joining high school.
In Nairobi, Roseline moved in with her sister-in-law, Judith Akoth, in Kware, a low-income area within Embakasi in Nairobi County.
On June 28, 2024, Roseline woke up early and went out to look for casual work. That was her normal routine.
At around 3pm, Judith spotted Roseline in Donholm, but that did not raise any suspicion. Sadly, that was the last time any relative or friend would see Roseline.
On Monday, Roseline’s mother and two sisters confirmed that a partially decomposed torso retrieved from an abandoned quarry – where the slum draws its name from – is all that is left of the 24-year-old.
Her lower body was chopped off at the waist. So far, the Ogongo family is the only one that has positively identified remains of their missing kin among bodies retrieved from Kware.
The late Roselyne Akoth Ogongo whose body was among those which were retrieved at Kware in Pipeline, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Mathias Shipeta of Haki Africa, a human rights lobby that was among first responders in Kware, said that there were 14 sacks with body parts at the City Mortuary.
After news broke that several bodies had been retrieved from the abandoned quarry, Roseline’s family dashed to the Kware police station and filed a missing person report.
Since June 28, the family had hoped that she would resurface.
On Saturday, Judith was at City Mortuary in a bid to find out whether Roseline’s remains were among those retrieved. Judith was not sure, and relayed that information to Roseline’s mother in Asembo, Siaya County.
Roseline’s mother, Benter Aduor, travelled to Nairobi on Sunday. She was accompanied by two of Roseline’s sisters.
Early Monday morning they all went to City Mortuary. Shortly after Red Cross officers counseled the family, they were ushered into the morgue, and it did not take long for Benter and her two daughters to identify Roseline.
Benter attended her daughter’s postmortem examination on Monday accompanied by her daughters and son, Roseline’s siblings. The 70-year-old, a widow, looked defeated as she painfully accepted fate.
She has been living with Roseline’s three children in Asembo.
“I am shocked at what has happened. I am shocked at what the world has become. Roseline was my lastborn. I feel pain, and it is heavy on us. But I am God-fearing lady and I have left it all to the Lord,” Benter said in fluent Dholuo during an interview at the City Mortuary, as she struggled to find energy to speak her mind.
“I am, however, thankful that I have found my daughter. Many people are still looking for their missing kin. I request for support to and pray for help to transport Roseline’s remains home for burial,” Benter added, indicating that despite the circumstances, the family was now on the path to closure.
When Roseline failed to return home on June 28, Judith tried calling her. Calls to her phone would be answered, but nobody spoke on the other end.
On June 30, Roseline’s phone was off.
After identifying Roseline on Monday, the family proceeded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu road.
On the same day, the DCI had arrested Collins Jumaisi Khalusa, whom they said confessed to killing 42 women since 2022. Khalusa was arrested at his house in Kayole, where detectives said they collected several items that will be used as evidence.
Detectives took the Ogongo family through the items recovered from Khalusa’s house, among them several identity cards, undergarments, handbags and a machete.
Judith immediately recognised the pink handbag. It was Roseline’s. The family also recognised Roseline’s mobile phone.
Judith Akoth,a sister-in-law of the late Roselyne Akoth Ogongo speaking at City Mortuary in Nairobi on July 17,2024 after identifying the body which was among those which were retrieved at Kware in Pipeline, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
Inside it was one sock. When the Ogongos retreated to Judith’s home after recording statements with the DCI, they found the other sock.
“The body had been chopped off at the waist. If you saw the remains, you would not recognise her. We knew her clothes as they were the ones she left home with. At the DCI we were told they had arrested a main suspect.
A few metres from the Ogongo family, Keran Khavere stood outside a counselling tent set up by the Kenya Red Cross. She looked lonely, tired and much like many in the City Mortuary premises, defeated.
Keran has been searching for her daughter Alaine Akhayele since May 2023.
Alaine lived with her mother in Sinai, a slum in the Embakasi area.
At the time, Alaine was doing casual work for a company based at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and which exports vegetables.
Keran could not remember the exact date, but her daughter left for work in the evening as usual. Alaine worked the night shift. She would leave for JKIA at around 6pm as Keran got home from work.
That fateful night, Alaine dressed for work, but changed her mind on the attire. She changed into another set of clothes and left.
The following day, Keran thought Alaine had left for work early. Phone calls to Alaine did not go through.
For over one year, Keran has been hoping that Alaine will resurface.
On Monday, Keran was accompanied by one of Alaine’s friends to the City Mortuary, as she also sought to find out whether her daughter’s remains could be among those retrieved from Kware.
There was no other family member, an indication of just how much Alaine means to Keran.
“I have seen bodies and there is one that could be Alaine’s but I am not sure. The pathologists have taken my DNA samples so we shall wait for the results,” Keran said.
Keran’s search for Alaine has been long, hard and painful. She is poor, so resources to launch a proper search for her daughter.
“When Alaine went missing, I reported at Lunga Lunga police station and I have been searching for her since. I have searched in hospitals but had no luck,” Keran said.
By the time of going to press, Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor was still leading a team in going through the sacks delivered to City Mortuary as they wait for more families to claim the bodies and sanction postmortems.
The pain of the Ogongos could, however, be just the first of many fates awaiting families whose kin are lying on the cold slabs at City Mortuary.
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