For 12 years, a family in Bomet has been on a desperate search for their kin, a former soldier who disappeared without a trace while at work in Nairobi.
John Kipsiele Mutai, a former Senior Private in the Kenya Army and an experienced driver, vanished on October 14, 2012.
He had been working as a driver for a retired senior soldier in Nairobi at the time. Kipsiele, who had served in the military for 24 years before being discharged, had taken up the job in May 2012, but went missing after just five months.
Despite tireless efforts by his family to trace him in hospitals, mortuaries, and police stations, his whereabouts remain unknown.
Nancy Chelangat Mutai, his wife, recounted the family’s ordeal over the past 12 years.
Kipsiele, a resident of Kapcheluch village in Bomet County, had last spoken to Nancy on the morning of his disappearance.
“He called to tell me he would be traveling to Mombasa with his boss that night. Later, he tried calling again, but my phone was off. He left a message with a neighbour, but we only got the information the next day,” Nancy recalled.
Unfortunately, heavy rainfall prevented the neighbour from relaying the message immediately. That was the last time Nancy and her family heard from Kipsiele.
Mrs Nancy Chelangat Mutai, the wife to missing former Senior Private at the Kenya Defence Forces, flanked by her sons - Vincent Siele (left) and Gideon Siele (right) at Kapcheluch village in Chepalungu constituency, on January 26, 2025.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation
Nancy has since been struggling to support their seven children, taking on casual jobs such as weeding farms and selling firewood to provide for the family.
“We don’t have the resources or connections to continue searching for him. We are appealing to the government to help us find him. We still believe he is alive and hope to reunite with him one day,” she said.
Nancy also revealed that two of her sons, who recently completed secondary school, have been unable to join college due to financial constraints.
She appealed to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to enlist one of her sons, hoping it would provide some relief to the family.
Gibson Siele, one of Kipsiele’s sons, echoed his mother’s sentiments.
“We have done everything we can to trace him, but no one has seen him in over a decade. We live in hope that one day, he will come back to us,” he said.
Vincent Siele (left) and Gibson Siele (right) display documents and photo of their father, John Mutai Kipsiele, who has been missing for the last 12 years on January 26, 2025.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation
Siele, who was in Class Six when his father disappeared, explained that Kipsiele had been living in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa area with his employer, also a retired senior soldier, before he went missing.
The family has also appealed to President William Ruto, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, to intervene and help them access Kipsiele’s military benefits.
“We are struggling to make ends meet. He served in the military for 24 years, yet his benefits remain unpaid. We are asking the President to help us get what is rightfully ours,” Nancy said.
According to records, Kipsiele was enlisted in the military on December 27, 1980, and served until June 10, 2005, when he was discharged for alleged desertion of duty.
The Public Complaints Standing Committee (PCSC), established in 2007 under President Mwai Kibaki, intervened in 2009, writing to the then Permanent Secretary for Defence, Nancy Kirui, about Kipsiele’s dismissal. The PCSC noted that Kipsiele claimed he had been unwell for two years, which led to his absence from duty.
“He had informed the forces since he left at a time when he was very ill,” the PCSC chairperson James Simani wrote.
He went on: “On his dismissal, he was not paid his benefits after having worked for the forces for twenty-three years” and that “the complainant would like to be honourably discharged so that he can access his benefits.”
In response, the Department of Defence stated that Kipsiele had been absent from duty for over 943 days and was dismissed after being found guilty of desertion.
His dismissal, they argued, rendered him ineligible for benefits.
“The serviceman (14885 – SPTE John Kipsiele Mutai) was enlisted in the Army on December 27, 1980, and went on to serve for 19 years, 239 days with non-reckonable service of two years and 107 days. On 10th May 2005, he appeared before his Commanding Officer charged with two counts under section 32 (a) and 68 of the AFA 1968 i.e absence of 943 days and dissertation respectively,” Mrs J N Mugo, wrote on behalf of the Permanent Secretary.
“He was found guilty on both charges and he was awarded a reduction in rank to private for charge one (1) and dismissed from the charge service two (2),” the DOD stated in the letter (MOSD/18/161A) dated April 22, 2019.
The PS stated: “Deserting duty for two years and 109 days calls for the serviceman's immediate dismissal from service for he was unlikely to reform. His dismissal is therefore in order and his appeal has no merit.”
Kipsiele was part of Kenya’s battalion to a peace mission in Yugoslavia and was among five UN soldiers who survived an accident where eight soldiers died on March 14, 1995.
Kispiele was awarded the United Nations Medal for Service with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the period – 30th May 1994 to 30th May 1995, with a certificate issued by Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) Bertrand de Lapressie, the Force Commander.
From the records available, the family believes Kipsiele was a very meticulous man, with records of when he enrolled in the military, the several courses he took in the over two decades in service, and the recommendations he got.
The family photo album contains memorabilia of photos and awards in the period he was in the military, part of which captures him in training, action, relaxing with fellow soldiers, and several with his bosses.
It also contains photos of when he served in the peacekeeping mission when he was injured and was undergoing treatment with other survivors in a hospital in a foreign country.
“My husband was not one to keep quiet when with his family. He shared with the children and me the moments he had at the military, the peace missions abroad, the highs and lows of serving his country,” Nancy said.
She added that Kipsiele wrote down most of what defined his life, including when he joined the military, the courses he attended, the training and duration, even the debts he paid, the money given as soft loans to others, the items and assets he bought, and the cost.
Mr Kipkemoi Barsumei, a former Bomet Mayor, called on the police to assist the family trace their kin.
“The family deserves to be told what happened to their loved one – whether he is alive or dead. The police department has adequate resources to trace the missing former soldier and unravel what happened to him,” Mr Barsumei said.
Mr Barsumei called on the military, in the interim, to release the benefits to the family so they can use it to meet their daily financial needs and educate their children.
