Residents of Nkamathi village in Mutuati, Meru County, were left stunned when a man thought to have died and been buried resurfaced alive. The man, Abdalla Mwenda, 20, had been presumed dead after his family identified a body found in the house where he had been staying at Mutuati market.
Mwenda expressed shock that his family and the villagers believed he had passed away without attempting to locate him. Some locals had voiced concerns about the body’s identity, urging the family to investigate further before proceeding with the burial.
Nkamathi Chief Bernard Muroki revealed that Mwenda had not been home for almost three months before the discovery of the body in the house. The body was found in the home Mwenda had shared with a woman who disappeared soon after the body was found.
Mwenda later clarified that he had separated from the woman and moved to Nthambiro, a village roughly 20 kilometers away. As a miraa harvester, he often traveled for work, and he was equally shocked to hear that his family had mistakenly buried someone in his place.
In a surprising turn of events, a worker who had been with Mwenda recounted how they passed by his home on the day of the burial, unaware of what was happening.
Upon hearing that he had supposedly been buried, Mwenda was too shocked to continue working and decided to return home to confirm the bizarre news.
Njuri Ncheke elder Salesio M’Ngecho mentioned that a traditional ritual, including the slaughter of a goat, would be necessary to reintegrate Mwenda into the family.