Tragedy as giraffe kills bodaboda rider in Naivasha

A family in Kasarani, Naivasha Sub County is seeking justice after their kin was allegedly knocked down by a giraffe on April 6, dying on spot.

That night, Mr Emmanuel Ekeno, a bodaboda rider, had gone to pick a client two kilometers from his home when the incident happened.

According to his wife Ms Abigael Nashipai, the day started well for the young family, when Ekeno left for work in the morning.

As usual, her husband of seven years came home at 1pm for lunch and left coming back at 9pm where they had dinner and retired to bed.

“At 11pm, he received a phone call from his frequent client who wanted to be ferried so he left and I expected he would be back in a few minutes,” Abigael sadly narrates.

Unfortunately, Ms Nashipai says at 1am, she heard a knock from her door where a neighbor told her that Ekeno had been involved in an accident and that they should rush him to the hospital.

“I dressed up quickly and we left, when we arrived at the scene, my husband was lying down in a pool of blood across the road, his motorbike some few meters away. I did not get closer to see or touch him, I thought he had just sustained injuries and I went back home. I didn’t know he had died on the spot,” she recalls.

Ms Nashipai later learnt that Ekeno had been knocked down by a giraffe which was coming from a nearby conservancy, crossing the highway.

The motorbike had remnants of fur from the giraffe.

According to Ms Nashipai, Ekeno has been ferrying the clients who are fishermen at night for the past few months and would return home safely after work.

Having lost her job months ago, Nashipai had been depending on her husband to provide for the family.

“It has not been easy for me; he has left me with young children. He was the breadwinner in our family. We are now planning for his burial; I am jobless and do not know who will help me carry the burden of raising and providing for my kids,” says the mother of two.

Mr John Esekon, the neighbor, says they called Kenya Wildlife Services(KWS) who responded to their pleas before police officers moved his body to the morgue.

 “As bodaboda riders we are in fear. We are risking our lives at night since we do not have restrictions on time we ferry clients. They should restrict the movement of wildlife,” he adds.

Esekon’s brother Isaah Lokala notes that a day after Ekeno was killed another person was knocked down by the giraffe and is receiving treatment at a hospital in Naivasha sub county.