The body of Charles Oduor Awich, a Siaya Bishop who went missing in January 2020 has been found on the shores of Lake Victoria, after which it was taken to Port Victoria Hospital mortuary in Busia.
Circumstances surrounding the Bishop's disappearance indicated that a brewing family rift over land may have been to blame for his death.
As per a report authored by Citizen Digital on February 21, 2020, the bishop's mutilated body was found with several knife wounds.
The Chairman of Siaya County Church Leaders' Forum, James Opiyo faulted how police had conducted their investigations.
Opiyo demanded that the police expedite the probe as they could not reasonably claim not to have information a month after the bishop went missing.
The leader of the Roho Jude Church disappeared under unclear circumstances on January 11, 2020.
According to the Siaya County Police Commander Francis Kooli, Bishop Awich was picked up from his Ndere home by two men on motorbikes who were allegedly impersonating police officers.
Hellen Odhiambo, the bishop's wife, while speaking to The Standard on January 19, 2020, voiced her suspicion that his disappearance may have been linked to a land rift.
“We suspect he could have been kidnapped because of the ongoing land case which is still pending before a court in Siaya,” she stated.
Following the allegations, Siaya County police arrested the clergyman's brother on Jan 27, 2020, as a suspect in the case.
The suspect was arrested after he told detectives that he knew where the religious leader's body was buried.
The police had expressed the belief that the bishop's disappearance was linked to a land dispute that had also led to the mysterious death of his grandmother.
