Family seeks justice for slain secondary school teacher
Mr Richard Simatwa (holding portrait), father to Edwin Simatwa, the secondary teacher who was found dead at River Sosio on August 9, 2022.
A family in Koykoy, Saboti, Trans Nzoia County, is crying out for justice following the death of a relative, whose body was found dumped on the banks of the River Sosio in Kamukuywa, Bungoma County.
Edwin Simatwa, 32, a teacher at Lukhome Baptist Secondary School, had been missing for six days.
He went missing on August 4 after leaving his rural home in Kiminini, where he had attended a neighbour’s funeral.
Mr Simatwa’s body was found at the river on August 9 after a long search. His wife recalled that he was heading home on a motorbike after schools closed on Thursday but never showed up.
“We learnt of his missing on August 7 when my children said they had seen some messages on WhatsApp announcing that he could not be reached. We immediately contacted his wife, who confirmed the reports,” said his aunt, Mrs Priscilla Simatwa.
She accompanied the teacher’s father, Richard Simatwa, to Kimilili to search for him. They were led to a widow, who narrated her last encounter with the teacher.
“I saw someone outside my homestead at night and I thought he was a thief only to realise that it was mwalimu after I called neighbours to come to my rescue. They got hold of him but I urged them not to beat him,” said the widow.
The widow said the teacher looked troubled. He asked the people to take his phone if they wanted anything from him, and he allegedly left the homestead and headed towards the river.
The teacher’s family received a phone call on Election Day informing them that a body had been found near the river and taken to the Kimilili Sub-County Hospital morgue.
“We travelled to Kimilili and confirmed it was his body. We witnessed the postmortem, which revealed that he died of strangulation by a rope. The motive and the perpetrator behind the death remains a mystery to us,” said his cousin Dennis Simatwa.
Family and friends at the Koikoi village home of secondary school teacher Edwin Simatwa who was found dead along River Sosio in Kamukuywa on August 9, 2022 after he went missing for days.
The family has urged the police to speed up their investigations into the murder as they struggle to come to terms with the death of their breadwinner.
Kimilili OCPD Lawrence Maroa called for patience, saying police were investigating the killing but no arrests had been made.
