Former Kisumu mayor’s son found dead after posting distress messages on Facebook

Three months ago, Habil Oile approached his friend Simon Onyango, and opened up about his troubled life.

He narrated to Onyango about some domestic squabbles that had pushed him to the brink of contemplating suicide.

And on Wednesday this week, the body of Habil, last-born son of former Kisumu Mayor, the late Akinyi Oile, was found lying lifeless inside his car parked at a petrol station along Kisumu-Busia road.

His family was regretting having not taken seriously the situation, despite Habil’s telltale signs, including a suicidal Facebook post on May 9, at 2.30pm.

In the post, Habil shared the photo of him and his late brother Allan, with a caption, "This guy knows we came from where you are struggling to take me, so I will be home and happy".

According to Onyango, he had advised Habil to move out of his family home so as to ease the pressure he had.

“Three weeks ago, he heeded to my advice, and moved from his family house in Mamboleo, into another house in Nyamasaria,” said Onyango, adding that he was in touch with him and everything seemed okay.

Onyango said Habil had been his fellow bodaboda rider and had recently acquired a car to upgrade into taxi business, but still maintained his position as a secretary in their bodaboda association group which Onyango chairs.

But on Tuesday evening, Habil’s body was found inside the vehicle with tinted windows which had been at the same spot from Monday evening. There was a small empty bottle of insecticide beside the body.

Habil’s elder brother, Eddie Oile, said someone who had seen the vehicle the previous day became curious.

“He had seen the vehicle parked just as it was starting to rain, and he thought the driver could have decided to halt his journey because of the heavy rain and the strong wind,” he said.

And when he saw the vehicle at the same spot the following day, he moved closer and checked through the window. It's when that he saw the body and raised an alarm.

Residents took pictures of the car and circulated it on social media and asked those who may have any knowledge of the driver.

When police arrived at the scene, they accessed the car and confirmed that the occupant, 32-year-old Habil was dead.

The body of the father of two was transferred to Kisumu County Hospital, as police investigate the matter.

But yesterday the family told the police not to conduct a postmortem, saying they were convinced their son could have committed suicide following the domestic squabbles he had earlier mentioned.

“We blame ourselves for not taking any action especially after he (Habil) showed signs of not being in the right state of mind, and even after he relocated from his house,” his sister Jane Omondi said.

The wife, Grace, and their two children were not available during the incident and did not comment on the matter.

“I would not wish to talk about the issue from where I am,” she said.

County Police Commander Samwel Anampiu, however, said that police had launched investigations into the incident to establish the facts on the matter. “We are doing our part to get to the bottom of the matter.” 

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