By Hyline Ocharo
On Friday morning, Gilbert Mogoko and Nelson Makori woke up like they always did, ready to face another ordinary day of work in Kisii.
Mogoko, a 40-year-old boda boda rider, prepared his motorcycle for the day’s hustle.
For him, the motorbike was more than a machine; it was his livelihood, the tool that helped him support his family.
Elsewhere that same morning, Makori was also beginning his work.
He was known locally for making and selling traditional hand-woven baskets called Ebitonga.
It was patient, careful work rooted in Abagusii tradition, and it helped him earn an honest living.
Neither man knew how the day would end.
They stepped out of their homes just like thousands of others do every morning — chasing the small victories of ordinary life.
But as the Abagusii say, “amakweri mobuko are” (death walks quietly with a person; it sits in the pocket).
By evening, bodies of the two men were lying in the mortuary, after they got involved in a road accident at Kegati area, along the Kisii-Keroka Road.
Several other road users were left with injuries following the accident.
Death remains one of life’s greatest mysteries, and humanity has tried for centuries to understand it, yet no one has ever found a complete answer.
The Bible teaches that when God created the earth, everything was perfect and good.
But that harmony was disrupted when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.
Their disobedience brought consequences — pain, suffering, and ultimately death.
Since then, death has remained unpredictable. No one knows the exact time, place, or circumstances under which they will leave this world.
It is this painful reality which unfolded yet again on Friday at Kegati.
Families have lost breadwinners, dreams have been shattered and children have lost fathers — all in a moment no one expected.
The Abagusii saying reminds people that death has no timetable, and can come anywhere, anytime.
The lesson from Kegati is simple: life is fragile, and what one has today can disappear in a moment.
In the end, death remains the one appointment no one can escape, even as it continues to be a mystery.