Survivor recounts painful boat tragedy that killed colleagues

Baraka Karama and Eric Juma

Stephen Mataya, 60, drowns in deep thought as he recounts horrible details of the Usenge boat tragedy that claimed 10 lives.

Mataya gazes into space, as he recites a prayer at the  shore of the lake,  to thank God for enabling him escape death by a whisker for a second time.

“Mungu baba, nakushukuru kwa kuniokoa, wewe ni mwema (Thank you God, for for saving my life, you are great),” he mutters as tears trickle down his cheek.

Twenty-seven years ago, he survived after the boat he was travelling in capsized near Mageta Island in Siaya County.

“God still loves me and I can’t just believe that I have survived yet again after surviving the first boat accident in 1993,” Mataya said.

“When the boat capsized, I tried to swim before fishermen who were nearby came to our rescue.

I still can’t believe I survived,  because it was so horrific,” said Mataya as he narrated the Tuesday night tragedy.

Strong wind

He said they left Uganda and were hopeful to arrive at Hongo beach in good time to sell their goods just as it has been the norm.

“It is not the first time we are using this mode of transport. Things changed when a strong wind swept our boat. It was painful to see my colleagues drown,” he said.

Mataya is among the 10 people who miraculously survived the tragedy that claimed the lives of ten others.

According to the Nyanza Regional Police boss Karanja Muiruri, those who drowned  were mainly businessmen, who were travelling from the neighbouring Uganda and were destined to a beach in Usenge, Siaya county.

Muiruri said: “ They were carrying food stuff and according to the reports we have, it is the strong wind that made the boat capsize”.

Only one body had been retrieved by yesterday evening as the search for the other nine continued.

“ The retrieval is being done by local volunteers, Beach Management Unit, Coast Guard and the Kenya Marine.s and we are sure that by the end of tomorrow, we shal have retrieved all the bodies,” the police boss said.

Kenya Coast Guard commander captain Jotham Odera said: “We are doing everything possible to retrieve the bodies despite the challenges of the weather and the wind. I am sure that we will succeed soonest.”

Siaya county police boss Francis Kooli however said that they had information that the boat was overloaded.

“ It carried motorcycles and other heavy stuff that the businessmen had bought from the neighboring country for sale in Kenya,” Kooli said.

Survivors who were rushed to the Bondo District Hospital were treated and later discharged.

A somber mood engulfed Hongo Beach as families and friends of those who perished waited to get news from the search team.

Emily Achieng; whose son was among the traders who had traveled to Uganda said:  “We were in constant communication but suddenly he was unreachable. I will be here until his body is retrieved.” 

According to Mzee Opiyo Otondi, the chairman of the Luo Council of elders, all the affected family members will be forced to camp at the shore until the search of the bodies is finalised.

Otondi said:“ They will sleep there for all the days and wait for the bodies. They are only allowed to leave after a special ritual inline with the Luo tradition is done”.