By Staff Writer | Wajir Today | Wednesday, 7 January 2026

Ibrahim Ahmed Duale is a bereaved father after losing one of his sons in a painful tragedy that has shocked many residents of Wajir County.

His son, Adow Ibrahim Ahmed, was mauled to death by a hyena in the tangled bush of Wajir South, an area where drought is biting hard and many herders are surviving on the edge.

The 45-year-old herder had disappeared for 11 days before his skeletal remains were recovered on Monday evening, 5 January 2026.

“I received the news of his death on Monday evening,” said the grief-stricken father. “His remains were brought in a sack.”

According to him, Adow had been employed as a herder by a local livestock trader and had been looking after camels for the past two years.

As he painfully narrates the shocking death of his son, the ageing father, together with two of his daughters, is staying in a hotel in Wajir town, far from their home in Kukalle, as they struggle to come to terms with the loss of their loved one.

“We were told that he went to search for a missing camel alone. He never came back from that mission,” he said.

What followed was a desperate search in a harsh and unforgiving wilderness, where the ravaging drought has reached alarming levels.

Days passed with no sign of Adow.

The terrain is dry and bare, with little water and almost no food. It is an environment where survival itself has become a daily struggle.

The search mission ended in heartbreak, with the herder never seen alive again.

The bereaved family and relatives are now trying to piece together the final moments of his life and understand how the hyena attacked him, leading to his untimely death.

It is believed that Adow may have been at his weakest, suffering from extreme thirst and hunger after spending days searching in the parched and bare landscape.

“It is possible that he was eaten by the hyena when he was exhausted, thirsty and hungry,” his father said quietly.

Adow was the second-born in a family of nine siblings.

His death is a stark and painful reminder of the harsh realities facing much of the North Eastern region, where prolonged dry spells continue to deepen human suffering.

According to a recent report by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), approximately 174,200 people are in urgent need of food assistance as households struggle to cope with rising hunger and malnutrition.

On Tuesday, 6 January 2026, Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif announced that the county had been pushed into a full-blown drought emergency, with more than 335,000 people now in need of humanitarian assistance.

In Wajir County, Wajir South, where Adow died, is the worst-hit constituency, followed closely by Wajir West in terms of severity.

Former councillor and a relative of the deceased, Ms Rukia Abdullahi, told Wajir Today that the harsh conditions brought about by prolonged dry spells often push humans and wild animals into dangerous encounters.

“It is possible that he was exhausted from thirst and became weak before he was attacked by the hyena,” Ms Rukia said.

She acknowledged the role played by the government and the police in retrieving the remains of the deceased, as the family considers the next steps.

“We appreciate the effort made to recover his remains,” she said, adding that discussions are ongoing on how the family should proceed.

Ms Rukia also revealed that the family intends to seek compensation following the incident.

“We are working on how to seek compensation from the government. It is our hope that the government will compensate the family,” she said.

Adow’s father has made a direct appeal to the Kenya Wildlife Service to fast-track the compensation process for the loss of his son.

“What has happened has happened,” he said. “We are requesting the government to help us in whichever way possible.”

As drought continues to tighten its grip on Wajir, the death of Adow Ibrahim Ahmed stands as a grim reflection of the human cost of the prevailing climate hardship.