Ronald Bernard Ochieng, a constable stationed at Homa Bay GK Prison, died on Friday by apparent hanging. He had received transfer orders to the Siaya GK Prison, and he did not like it.
Earlier, he had been admitted to the Homa Bay Teaching and Referral Hospital with severe pneumonia. Shortly after arriving home from the hospital, he is said to have learned of his impending transfer, which he proceeded to resist.
Ochieng had served the Prisons department for 20 years.
Body found by Colleagues
Staff at the Homa Bay GK Prison are said to have gone to check on Ochieng on Saturday evening after no one could reach him by phone. They accessed his house and found his lifeless body hanging from the roof.
Word has it that he had rung his mother and complained about the forced transfer, and then he apparently switched off his phone.
The death of Bernard Ochieng by apparent hanging is not an isolated case. Recently, a prison warden attached to the Loitoktok GK Prison, Nathan Kibet Arawa, was found dead. He had allegedly hanged himself using a manila rope.
There have been similar cases in recent years, including the apparent suicide of Linda Machuma Wafula of Kitale Women’s Prison, John Kisyanga Kimanzi of Garissa Medium Prison, and others.