94-Year-Old Kenyan Man Returns Home After Being Away for 42 Years

A 94-year-old Kenyan man has finally returned home after being away for more than 40 years. 

Hiltan Kalugho, who left his home in 1980 in search of greener pastures, reunited with his family at Majengo village in Mwatate, Taita-Taveta County last week.

The nonagenarian says he traveled to the neighboring country of Tanzania 42 years ago to look for fortune, leaving behind his wife and seven children.

“I left home in search of greener pastures because I wanted a good future for my children. Unfortunately, I was unable to come back home because I did not get the money I expected to get to feed my family,” Klugho told Sunday Nation.

Upon arrival in Tanzania, the man settled in the border town of Mororoni where he first worked as a gemstone miner, but he did not earn as much as he expected, forcing him to venture into livestock herding.

“We did not get any breakthrough. What we used to get was only enough to sustain us,” Kalugho added.

By this time, the man says he had decided he would not remarry and was yearning to return home. 

Kalugho’s son Mnjala Mwaluma says the family had unsuccessfully searched for their father for years and had given up on ever finding him.

Kalugho was found and reunited with his family after a Kenyan pastor who had visited the area shared his story on social media.

“Recently I received a call from a pastor telling me my father had been traced in Tanzania. He came with him to Mombasa where we went to meet him,” said Mwaluma.

Kalugho returned home last week to find that his wife died in 2007, as did his two other sons.

“I feel so bad that some of my family members are not here to witness the reunion. I had longed to see my wife and all my children,” he said.