Kenyan woman who eloped with Ugandan man returns home after 27 years with 7 children

A 45-year-old woman from Bungoma who disappeared from home 27 years ago, has returned to her ancestral land married and with seven children.

Rose Nabwile eloped with a man from the neighbouring Uganda close to three decades ago, and ever since, her parents have unsuccessfully tried to trace her.

Unutterable joy ripped through Ndengelwa Village in Kanduyi on Tuesday evening, when a delegation sent to look for Nabwile in Uganda returned home with her.

Nabwile’s sisters Imelda Nafula, Caroline Nafula and her brother, Hudson Wanjala, walked into 97-year-old Wanjala Bitonyoke’s homestead holding the hand of their long-lost kinsperson.

Wanjala Bitonyoke says he “lacks words” to describe his reunion with his daughter, Rose Nabwile, who disappeared from home 27 years ago. [PHOTO | EDAILY]

“I lack words to describe the joy I have reuniting with my daughter after 27 years. I had lost hope of meeting her, and had even thought that she was dead,” said Bitonyoke.

The nonagenarian says his friend, an elderly man, recently approached and told him that he had a clue about Nabwile’s whereabouts.

Bitonyoke followed up on the leads, and asked his daughters and a son to go look for their long-lost sister. To facilitate the journey, Bitonyoke sold his cattle to raise the needed money for busfare and meals.

Nabwile’s sister, Imelda, says upon arriving at the Uganda homestead, where they were directed, she looked at the bodily features of their sister, and was “100 per cent sure” that Nabwile was related to them.

“I looked at her eyes, the shape of her feet, and I was 100 per cent sure that she was my sister,” said Imelda.

The four, thereafter, embarked on a journey back to Bungoma, arriving in the Western Kenya area to much song and dance.

Nabwile said she eloped with a Ugandan national, and following the long stay away from home, she forgot the route back to her native land.

She said she was happy to reunite with her family members.

Nabwile’s mum, who is ailing, was too overwhelmed to see her long lost child.

At the time Nabwile disappeared from home, she was a first-time mother to a then-9-month-old boy, who has since completed his education at Kibabii University, and is now in the process of looking for employment as a teacher.

The first time Nabwile got pregnant, she was in primary school, and following that development, she was forced to drop out of school.