Joseph Chepkwony: Man who left home ‘for business’ 45 years ago returns

Joseph Chepkwony’s return home after a mind-boggling 45 years nearly sent the sleepy village of Kasubwo into a panic.

The villagers thought the 82-year-old man was a ghost and it took a long while to convince them otherwise.

Chepkwony left his home in 1975 after promising his family that he would be back soon but ended up on a quest that lasted 45 years.

His son who was 7 at time is now 52 and told the nation that his father left him and his four siblings saying he was going to do business.

Chepkwony’s wife passed on in 2019 having lived half her life mulling over her missing husband.

His  family says that until 2001, they thought he had died only to hear that someone had seen him in Nanyuki.

Unfortunately, they were unable to locate him in Nanyuki as he had already moved by the time their delegation got to Nanyuki.

Speaking after a celebration in honour of his return, Chepkwony regaled the village with the tall tales of his pursuits over the years.

He said he left home to sell hides and skins around the Mt Elgon and later travelled to Nairobi and Uganda until 1978.

Unfortunately, he was arrested in 1979 around Naivasha on the suspicion of trafficking bhang but was later released.

Thereafter, he embarked on a quest to mine Mercury in Laikipia and Samburu where he says he made a lot of money.

The business took him on trips to Kisumu, Kisii and Tanzania and in the very end, he says he lost everything and had to settle in Nanyuki living from hand to mouth.

Chepkowny who can now speak Turkana, Samburu, Kikuyu, Luo , Luhya and Kisii says he returned home to take care of his grandkids.

” I wasted my youth, I’m now here to look after my grandchildren,” He said.