A thick line has always been drawn between Christianity and traditional cultural beliefs. In fact, staunch Christians never want to hear about or even engage in some cultural practices.
Well, if the recent happenings at River Yala are anything to go by then you’ll have to change your mind about some of these cultural practices.
Days after drowning in River Yala while taking selfies, the body Derrick Auka a third-year student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology was finally retrieved after his father performed some rituals.
The father sat on a coiled cloth lubricated with a potion and started calling out his son and after 30 minutes his son’s body surfaced.
“Today we have realised that rituals can sometimes work. As a saved man and a staunch Christian, I was shocked to see the body of my son floating 100 meters away after 30 minutes,” the man told reporters who gathered at the River Yala.
Derrick and his female companion Shallete Atieno drowned on Saturday evening when they were standing on a stone and taking selfies.
Shallete slipped and fell into the river. Derrick tried to save her.
The four-day-long search has been agonising as family and friends wait for divers to retrieve the bodies.
The ‘successful’ ritual prompted Shallete’s father to try the same ritual but by press time yesterday, her body had not been recovered in Bondo in Siaya county.Family and friends camped on the bank day and night, as Luo culture dictates.
Luo elders warned Ouka’s family not to begin burial preparations until the other body is retrieved. They asked Derick’s family to keep Shallete’s family company at the riverside until the body is recovered.
Six divers from Bomet have joined Siaya divers in the search.
Cases of college students slipping and actually drowning in rivers have been on the rise lately. It will be remembered that two students from Maasai Mara University; a male and a female also lost their lives in the same way. The two were taking pictures at Ewaso Nyiro river before the unfortunate incident.