Deceased Kenya’s Simbas player Mike Okombe [photo/standardmedia.co.ke]A trail of deaths over the last 12 months has visited the rugby sporting fraternity, raising a lot of concern regarding the mystery that remains unraveled to date. For the record, six rugby stars with a bright future had their lives snuffed out in the most macabre of ways and in as much as we would ordinarily attribute most of these calamities to the grim reaper, it’s absurd that a lasting solution to the disturbing trend has yet to be found.
Ogeto Gacheo
He was a Nondescripts greenhorn. Sylvester Ogeto Gacheo died two days after he sustained a neck injury during his side’s Kenya Cup clash with Strathmore Leos in Madaraka on December 3.
It all started when Ogeto slipped a disc resulting in spinal damage and subsequently underwent surgery to insert plates on his vertebral column. The surgery was deemed successful and the bubbly ‘OG’, as he was fondly referred to in rugby circles, regained sense and motion in his upper body.
James Kilonzo
Popularly known as ‘Jay Mulla’ was withdrawing money from an M-Pesa shop in Kasarani when a marauding gang shot him to death. Kilonzo, the KCB RFC forward was only 23 when the unfortunate incident happened to spark protests by residents of the area. Having bossed his club’s tour of South Africa and consequently earning ‘Man of the Tour’ tag, Kilonzo’s death left the rugby fan base in shock and disbelief.
Peter Wekesa
Elder brother to Andrew who was slain in Mlolongo in January, Peter, a former Homeboyz RFC skipper met his death in November following a grisly road accident in Mombasa.