The recent Likoni accident that claimed lives has awakened passed unpleasant memories including that of a governor's brother who was attacked and thrown into the ocean in 1980.
In March 2014, shortly after Lupita Nyong'o had won the Oscars, her father, Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, revealed to The Independent, a UK publisher, that he had suffered immensely including a time his brother was killed at a ferry in Mombasa.
In the detailed interview, Nyong'o explained that his brother, Charles Nyong'o, was attacked by thugs reportedly linked to the then president, Daniel Moi.
Charles was subsequently thrown off the vessel and ever since, his body has never been recovered.
"My brother disappeared in 1980. It was a very difficult time politically. We never recovered his body and it was never resolved who was behind the murder.
"Even now, no information has come to light. I know he was on a ferry in Mombasa," recounted Nyong'o.
Known not to give up matters easily, the governor pursued the matter further engaging witnesses but, apparently, the state has remained mum over the matter 39 years later.
"Witnesses who I managed to talk to told me clearly that it was not an accident and he had been attacked and pushed off the ferry. But the witnesses were too terrified to testify to the police.
"I spoke to members of the Kenyan Special Branch and someone informed me that they knew what happened. They were not willing to help in any way whatsoever because of that," he continued.
On Sunday, a car veered off Likoni Ferry and plunged into the Indian ocean killing a mother, Mariam Kigenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu. Retrieval efforts are still ongoing with the state having commissioned robots to help in the exercise.
During the interview, the governor also spoke about his own harrowing experience after he returned into the country in 1987 from exile in Mexico.
"I was being picked up monthly and weekly. It would depend on the period. It was as often as they wanted. It was mainly psychological for me, although it was physical for others. You could not wash for days, you were harassed, threatened, you couldn't sleep and it becomes unbearable," he continued.
The trauma that followed made it difficult to watch his daughter's award-winning performance in 12 Years a Slave.
