The widow of Baringo's 'Crocodile Man' has appealed for help to enable her to raise her four children.
Ngiru Kakalel, 35, lives in a dilapidated rented house in Kampi ya Samaki town, Baringo North.
Her husband, David Owino, popularly known as The Crocodile Man or The Scorpion Man, was allegedly killed by an AP officer on October 6 last year.
Owino had turned the scorpions into friends despite their deadliest venomous stings. He also rescued and fed orphaned crocodiles. Residents said he possessed a supernatural ability. He learned how to interact with the animals during his fishing expeditions in Lake Baringo.
Owino would entertain tourists by playing with the animals for a fee. He became a tour guide with the Lake Baringo Community Boats and Excursion and earned between Sh500 and Sh1,500 from a single tourist. He could call and beckon deadly crocodiles and feed them on fish remnants, to the amazement of tourists and residents. Through this, he fed his family.
His death, therefore, marked a wrong turn for the family. Owino's jobless widow can no longer support their two daughters and two sons aged between two and 13 years. They are Meny, Adhiambo, Omondi and Philomena.
The woman now does odd jobs just to keep her family going with the little money she gets.
“I earn as little as Sh20 per 20-litre container as I go round fetching water for people during the day, which cannot sustain feeding and clothing my children and paying their school fees,” Kakalel told the Star on Wednesday.
She said she hasn’t paid rent for the last three months and fears they could be evicted from the single room.
Meny, her firstborn, is a KCPE candidate at Kampi ya Samaki Primary School. Kakalel is afraid he could fail to join secondary school next year, despite the government's order that all candidates must transition. She can't meet his basic needs.
“The rest are also joining nursery schools soon and I have got no money to raise their fees,” she said.
Kakalel has pleaded with well-wishers to come to their rescue. She says the death of her husband has brought them untold suffering.
On that fateful day, Owino, 40, was arrested for allegedly being drunk and disorderly. Akoroyan assistant chief Moses Chebii and Nyumba Kumi member Joseph Onyango handed him over to Kampi ya Samaki AP officers.
“The officer on duty, identified as Bosco Omboko, kicked him several times with sharp-pointed boots until he was senseless and could not rise to walk. He died on the spot,” Owino's former colleague Dennis Kiptoo had said.
“He could let ‘friendly’ poisonous scorpions walk over his naked body — his chest, stomach, hands and legs — without stinging him … He really had a unique talent.”
On Wednesday, Kakalel said they have yet to get justice.
“Since then, I still see the culprits walking freely and nobody is even speaking about it,” she said.
Louise Juma said Owino was a humble and jovial man who never quarreled or fought with anybody.
Juma worked with him as a tour guide.
A postmortem report done at the Baringo County Referral Hosptial revealed he was beaten with a blunt object. The Crocodile Man succumbed to his injuries, it showed.
On December 7 last year, Lake Baringo warden Jackson Komen called the Star complaining that media was giving the late Owino "unnecessary publicity".
He said the deceased “was a hardened criminal who was being sought by the police and the Kenya Wildlife Service for handling and feeding wild animals illegally”. Komen accused the media of not contacting the authorities whenever they visited to interview Owino or cover stories about him.
The Crocodile Man died barely a week after he had a special interview with the World BBC over his unique ability.
“I wonder why the media keeps focusing on him even after his death,” Komen said.
