It was joy and tears on Tuesday when two octogenarian brothers met after
living part for 70 years.
The old men Juma Omolo Swaga, 80 and John Akula Swaga, 89, wept
uncontrollably at a village in Nakuru County for over an hour before settling
for overnight talks about the many years gone by that saw their four siblings
pass away as well as their parents.
Mzee Omolo, alias “Bachelor-Boy”, left his ancestral home in Koru area of
Kisumu in the company of his elder sister in search of a job among the colonial
settlers.
They moved to Subukia in Nakuru where he worked in seven farms as a
househelp, cook and later as a spray-man and supervisor on a European farm.
He has lived in Subukia, and it was not until yesterday that his older
brother, Akula, managed to trace him.
Akula had lost all hope of ever finding his younger brother alive after his
search net over neighbouring Uganda drew a blank.
He had received news that Omolo had joined fighters in Idi Amin’s war in the
1970s. While in Uganda, he received information that his younger brother had
died.
“Even my mother visited Subukia in search of my brother, but it was all in
vain. I’m happy to have found him and I confirm it is him since his cleft lip
had been stitched and therefore has a permanent scar,” Akula said, adding that
his brother Omolo had to go home and see his parents graves and also set foot
in his house.
But Omolo interjected: “Not to stay, but to greet them for a day and return
home. Kabazi is where my people are and I have no other home now. God gave me
lovely neighbours who feed me, clothe and even built a home for me. This is
where God gave me money to buy land and live,” he says.
Mzee Omolo, who speaks fluent Kikuyu spent his entire life on “life”, and
this made the three women he married at different times leave him, making him
spend over two decades alone.
Mzee Akula said he was shocked to receive a letter from his brother from
their area chief informing him his brother was alive and well in Kabazi, Nakuru
County. He travelled together with the chief accompanied by two grandchildren
and a son.
“I want him to come home and live with me. He is my real brother and I’m
ready to take him back to his people. They need to see and hear from him,” Mzee
Akula said as his brother adamantly declined the offer, saying, he would plan
his visit to Siaya, greet his brother’s family and return home.
“It is okay to visit them in Siaya, but let them know Kabazi is home now and
even if I die Kabazi will be my burial ground. These are my people and I know no
other home,” he said.
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| Look like they say "Long Time no see brother" |
Mr Benjamin Gitau was mandated by the church community to search for Mzee
Omolo’s relatives and he sought help from a university lecturer who took the
particulars to Boro assistant chief Peter Omondi Yuya.
It is in Boro Division of Siaya County where Mzee Omolo’s family moved after
Koru.
“Akula, who is my grandfather, was shocked and lost for words to learn his
brother was still alive. He called to enquire from Mr Gitau about Mzee Omolo
and he said he would confirm his story by seeing a birthmark on his lip,”
recalls Mr Omondi who was accompanied relatives of Mr Omolo on Tuesday.
On arrival, the two brothers wept uncontrollably, but “bachelor-boy” known
for his light-hearted humour, quipped: “I am a lost son, but not a dead one.
God knew one day I would meet my real brother. I’m very happy for him and we
have a long life to live, visiting one another once in a while.”
Village church leader Samwel Ndung’u said Omolo was one of them and they had
united as a community to feed him every day with the church raising funds to
build him a timber wall, iron house to replace the decades-old grass thatched
hut.
“Even during the infamous ethnic clashes in 2007, Omolo never contemplated
relocation. We assured him of our protection and we know he is one of us since
1965 when we moved into this farm,” Mr Ndung’u said.
Source James Kariuki
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