Shock as FKF referee dies in Turkana

A Turkana based Football Kenya Federation (FKF) referee was found dead in a thicket at a remote Kalemnyang village in Loima Sub County on Sunday after allegedly committing suicide.

Maurice Odero's body was found hanging on a tree with a binding wire around his neck just some meters away from a construction site for a Member of County Assembly’s office.

According to his father, John Oduwo, the deceased had lately been stressed over a business partner he accused of failing to pay him ‘a lot of money’ for work he had done in the past.

“I am yet to come to terms with the death of my child. I don’t know if really he committed suicide or someone killed him and hanged him on a tree," Mr Oduwo said.

The father said Odero has been complaining that the person, who refused to pay him has also been threatening him even whenever they talked on phone.

The deceased has also been informing his wife Vivian Odero over the threats from the business partner whenever he visited them at the home in Iten, Baringo County.

Mr David Nyongesa, a casual worker at the site, said that Odero looked troubled since Saturday.

“On Saturday evening, he told us that he wanted to make a crucial call but the area has no network so he had to walk to higher grounds to look for network but he took longer than expected because he found us at 8pm when we had already prepared supper which he declined and opted for milk," Mr. Nyongesa said.

He added that in the morning Odero was to give them guidance on the work they will do, but instead said he wanted to relief himself in a thicket where he never returned.

“What prompted us to start looking for him at around 2pm is when some casuals came to demand for their wages. We found him hanging on a tree after a long search," Mr. Nyongesa said.

Loima Sub County Commissioner Charles Mbulishe confirmed that the police retrieved the body from a thicket and took it to Lodwar County and Referral Hospital Mortuary.

“At the moment we cannot confirm whether the man committed suicide or was killed and hanged until the investigations we have started are over as no suicide note was left," Mr. Mbulishe said.

Odero has been officiating FKF Division Two League Western Zone B games. Turkana teams in the league are Kakuma United FC and Nawoitorong Rangers.