A man amazed Residents of Nganue village in Makueni County after he showed up 46 years after he left home.
The father of three,David Malelu is said to have left home in 1972.
The 84-year-old man said he was working in Mombasa while his wife Ruth Malelu(75) claimed that her husband eloped with another woman abandoning his family only to show up on Thursday morning looking shy and unkept.
“It was a surprise since we had all thought he was dead until he showed up with a bag full of dirty clothes and Sh500 in his pocket, the last time I saw him he was with another woman but now that’s he’s back my prayers have been answered,” she said.
According to her, the family had persistently searched for him everywhere to no avail.
“In mortuaries, prison, and hospitals there’s nowhere we didn’t look for him but all we got was a disappointment. He was nowhere to be found,” Mrs. Malelu added.
Mr. Malelu, said at the time he returned he was working as farmhand in Tanzania.
However, when asked why he abandoned his family all these years he could not give a satisfactory answer.
“I can’t really tell why I left my family but I’m glad I’m home, that’s what matters,” he said.
He also claimed that he was forced to bribe a policeman at the Tanzania-Kenya border to be able to enter the country.
“It took me three days on the way, I had walked a better part of the journey,” added the returnee.
David, however, refused to speak about the other woman whom they eloped together and instead spoke about how he was unable to recollect the way back to his home.
His cousin Daniel Kilonzo said the family, church, and community had accepted the old man back and would do everything to help him regain his health.
“It’s unfortunate his only son grew, got a family but passed on before he could see his father but the other two girls are okay, married with children. We will look after him and ensure his health is back to normal,” Kilonzo said.
The post Feature: The life of a man who went missing for 46 years appeared first on Kitui Online.
