Dan Matakaya Mwaka was fast asleep when his wife poured sulfuric acid solution on his face, and also made sure the water on the floor in his room was electrified.
The inspector Matakaya who was a police officer in Kisii before the sad day of the incident in September 21 2013, never knew that would be the beginning of his sojourn into utter darkness as he eventually lost his sight from the acid attack.
“After she poured acid on me, I tried to reach out for water but she had poured water on the floor and connected power. She wanted me to be electrocuted. I screamed for help and my neighbors took me to hospital,” he told BBC in a 2019 interview
“I was given First Aid. My face was washed and I began seeing. The pain was so severe in my legs I struggled to walk. They tried to give me painkillers but there was no change,” he told the British broadcaster.
After two days he was transferred to Kakamega County Hospital.
“In Kakamega hospital I stayed for two days then I was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital for advanced treatment,” Matakaya said.
He lost his sight during the process of hospital transfers.
“Apparently, the acid continued to work on my eyes even after and it made me go blind. If we had known better we would have kept pouring water into my eyes to dilute the acid and I wouldn’t have lost my sight.”
He said the doctors did grafting, removed tissues from other parts of the body for the burns to heal from inside.
The surgeries stabilized his condition but he was not fully healed.
The story of Inspector Matakaya is not a new one, but it is just getting media attention in the wake of increase in domestic violence in several homes across Africa
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