Man Who Went Missing in 1957 Reunited With His Family

A Ugandan Old man Patrice Okubal of Iteso community was reunited with his family on Tuesday after returning to his ancestral home of Guyaguya Village in Soroti District, formerly known as Katakwi.

Okubal, who is now 111 years, returned to his ancestral village with clan members from Bukwo District and was greeted with a two-day celebration in which the family slaughtered a cow and goat and held thanksgiving prayers.

Okubal, who had five children at the time of his disappearance, was welcomed by  two of his remaining children, Pascal Awojat, 66, and Rupina Amongin, 70, as well as 139 grandchildren.

Okubal is thought to have fled his home after allegedly losing his fortune in a gambling game known among the Iteso as Epiki, in which he gradually staked his family's wealth, including his wife.

Awojat, Okubal's last-born son, explained that after his father lost the bet, fellow gamblers approached his Ibokora Atekok Clan members, asking for his late mother Berite Olinga's inheritance.

Following the incident, Awojat claimed that his clan, including his late elder brothers, beat up the father for offering their mother as a wager in a gambling game.

"He mysteriously disappeared from home in protest while I was breastfeeding, he left us with our mother Berite Olinga, who died in 2003," Awojat said.

The family expressed their joy and gratitude to the Bukwo family for keeping their father safe for nearly seven decades and putting an end to their desperate search, which they admitted to having given up more than ten years ago.

"We tried, but we literally shelved any search along the way. "All that mattered was our survival," cried Okubal's daughter Amongin, who couldn't hide her tears.

According to one Robert Kapsandui Zik, a member of the Bukwo family who has been caring for Okubal over the years, Okubal has been disguising himself as Odeke.

He also revealed that Okubal was given to him by his grandfather, Aloni Muzungyo, when he was Sebei County Chief in 1957, and that after he died in 1976, his family continued to care for Okubal as their own.

Okubal, according to Kapsandui, has never been in a relationship or had any other children during his exile