Wave of suicides rocks Kenya as cases surge nationwide

KENYA: A WAVE of suicides is sweeping across Kenya, leaving families shattered and communities grappling with loss as the crisis intensifies.

In Kericho, a 34‑year‑old man became the latest casualty when he was found dead outside his home, marking yet another tragedy in a growing trend.

Police said the man, who had battled a mental health dis‑ order since childhood, was on regular medication and monthly injections.

He had been visiting relatives in Kapgwen village, Tui‑ yopei location, Kipkelion East, when he died. According to authorities, the scene was processed thoroughly, and the body was taken to the Kericho Mortuary for preservation, pending an autopsy.

The incident was reported by Assistant Chief Jackson Langat of Nyambugo Sub‑Location.

This death comes as Kenya grapples with a sharp rise in sui‑ cide cases across the country.

According to the World Health Organization, approxi‑ mately four people die by suicide in Kenya every day, with a crude suicide rate of 6.1 per 100,000 people.

In Nairobi, a 57-year-old man was found dead in his house in Embakasi on June 18, 2025.

The man had earlier called a friend and asked him to visit af‑ ter work.

Upon arrival, the friend found the man hanging behind the door and alerted the police.

The body was taken to the Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) and is awaiting an autopsy.

Still in the capital, a 31‑year‑old man was discovered hanging in his Sabasaba area home. He had been missing for two weeks when a cousin went to check on him and made the grim discovery.

The body was transferred to Mama Lucy Hospital Mortuary for a post‑mortem examination. Meanwhile, in Nakuru, a 30‑year‑old man was found hanging from a tree with a manila rope at Olosuswa Farm.

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The man’s mother reported the death to authorities, prompt‑ ing a visit from police and DCI officers.

After inspecting the scene, investigators confirmed that the body bore no visible injuries.

The body was taken to the Naivasha Sub‑County Hospital Mortuary pending an autopsy.

As these tragic incidents mount, Kenya faces an urgent call to address its mental health crisis and save lives.

In a separate development, nearly a quarter of people diagnosed with mpox in Kenya are HIV-positive, with evidence suggesting that untreated HIV increases both disease severity and the risk of death.

A new analysis of all the cases reported between July last year and February 2025 also indicates most patients (62 per cent) reported genital wounds, which means the disease was sexually transmitted.

Kenyan health officials conducted 447 tests within this period and confirmed 48 cases, according to the analysis conducted by the Ministry of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eleven of the 48 people (22.9 per cent) were HIV-positive, and one of them died on October 14, last year.

“The patient had advanced HIV disease and was not receiving antiretroviral therapy. The death occurred 30 days after rash onset while the patient was hospitalised for cryptococcal meningitis and had secondarily superinfected anogenital lesions and severe constipation.

In addition, a pregnant woman delivered a stillborn,” says the report, titled “Clade Ib Mpox Outbreak: Ke‑ nya, July 2024–February 2025.” This situation reflects prior mpox outbreaks.

In Nigeria from 2017–19, about 28 per cent of mpox patients were HIV-positive, and HIV co-infection correlated with a strikingly higher risk of death.

Globally, HIV-positive individuals, especially those with low CD4 counts or untreated infection, have shown increased mpox severity.

Conversely, those with wellmanaged HIV exhibit outcomes similar to HIV-negative individuals. Kenya’s outbreak is rooted in the clade Ib variant, which CDC and WHO elevated to a continental public-health emergency in August 2024.

This subclade emerged in eastern DRC in late 2023 and has since spread to neighbouring countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.

Clade Ib is believed to be more transmissible and potentially more lethal than its clade II counterpart.

The Kenyan outbreak has predominantly afflicted mobile and high-risk populations: 27 of the 48 confirmed cases (56.3 per cent) involved individuals working along the Mombasa–Malaba transport corridor, specifically truck drivers, sex workers, and those operating around trucking stopovers.

According to CDC, there is no strong evidence that having HIV increases the likelihood of getting infected with mpox if you are exposed.

However, “People who are immunocompromised are at greater risk of severe mpox and death,” the CDC says.

Kenya already contends with a significant HIV burden, with approximately 1.4 million people living with HIV, an adult prevalence near 3.2 per cent.

Kenya requested and received mpox vaccine as part of the Access and Allocation Mechanism and is planning a July 2025 vaccination campaign for the highest risk groups.

The CDC report was compiled from MoH’s mpox out‑ break investigation documents for July 29, 2024, through February 28, 2025, including case investigation forms, outbreak investigation reports, and information from health care facilities about characteristics of patients with confirmed cases.

Kenya reported the first case of Mpox on July 29 , 2024, at the Taita Taveta County border with Tanzania.

Health PS Mary Muthoni last week said total cases have now risen to 137 and, apart from the lone death, the rest have re‑ covered.

“The Ministry of Health remains committed to control‑ ling the Mpox virus outbreak and protecting the health and safety of all Kenyans. We ap‑ preciate the continued efforts by the public in helping us combat this outbreak and safeguarding the well-being of our republic,” Muthoni said.