Double tragedy for family of missing journalist Bogonko Bosire
Mr David Bosire, Bogonko Bosire's father.
The family of missing journalist Bogonko Bosire has suffered another blow after his father, Mr David Bosire, died on Monday afternoon. This comes hardly a month after Bogonko's younger brother, Joshua Bosire, died by suicide.
According to Douglas Kimaiga Obiria, who is Bogonko's cousin, Mr Bosire died at his home in Kuresoi North.
"Bogonko's father died in his sleep on Monday afternoon. He had been ailing for a long time and the sickness is attributed to the disappearance of his son years ago. He developed a mental problem after he searched for his missing son in vain," said Mr Obiria.
The family says Mr Bosire had slipped into depression at some point.
Missing blogger Bogonko Bosire. His younger brother died by suicide after showing signs of depression from last year.
Brother's death
On January 15 this year, Bogonko's brother Joshua breathed his last after ingesting a toxic substance. According to his sister Winnie, her younger brother had shown signs of depression and had began to drink excessively.
According to the family, the stress arising from Bogonko’s disappearance, together with the increased responsibility of taking care of his old parents, took a toll on Joshua.
Bogonko's disappearance in September 2013 devastated the family, especially his parents.
His father was diagnosed as schizophrenic, a family source said. Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects a person's ability to think, feel and behave clearly. It is characterised by thoughts or experiences that seem out of touch with reality, disorganised speech or behaviour and decreased participation in daily activities.
The family has been pushing the government to revive investigations into Bogonko’s disappearance.
The deaths come nine years after Bogonko, a journalist-turned-blogger, vanished without a trace, shortly after the terror attack at Westgate mall, Nairobi, on September 21, 2013.
Prior to his disappearance, Bogonko had publicly feared for his life due to a story that he was pursuing for his controversial Jackal News blog.
Listen to episode 1 of the Bogonko Bosire podcast below:
Also listen to Chapter 8: The aftermath
Additional report by Steve Otieno
