On the sunny evening of August 1, 2022, Sarah Aoko, 30, sat pensive outside her rented house in Kitengela's populous Noonkopir settlement, anxious that her daughter would come home, eight hours after she had mysteriously disappeared from her home. Nine months later, she remains unaccounted for.
On that fateful morning, Ms Aoko had left her first-born daughter, Stecy Atieno, to look after her three younger siblings. When she returned in the evening from the Export Processing Zone (EPZA) where she was working, her 13-year-old daughter had disappeared without a trace.
The family of five, who had moved from Njiru sub-county in Nairobi to Kitengela in June 2022, two months before the incident, lived in a small house in Nookopir Estate. The father, said to be a businessman, lives in Kigali, Rwanda.
The tearful mother told the Nation on Tuesday night that the family has been going through untold hardship for the past nine months as desperate efforts by the extended family to find the girl have borne no fruit.
At the time of her disappearance, the girl was a Form Seven pupil at St Joseph Boarding Primary School Mbiuni in Machakos County.
"I hardly sleep at night wondering where my daughter could be. Her disappearance has tormented our family. I have searched for her everywhere, including police stations, hospitals and mortuaries, but to no avail," she said, sobbing as she held her daughter's photo.
She described her daughter as cheerful, outgoing and with high educational aspirations. She wanted to become a lawyer. Back in their rented one-room house in the Noonkopir settlement, her personal belongings, books and uniform are neatly arranged on a box in the back corner. It's the only reminder the family has of their missing daughter.
"We were on good terms when she disappeared. I am besieging her to come back home to end our suffering. It's a painful ordeal for any parent to have their child disappear in her prime," she said, adding that she wanted her to go back to school.
The four-and-a-half foot tall, dark-haired girl was last seen wearing black tights, a white top with black stripes, a red jumper and brown sandals. She speaks English and Swahili. She also speaks Dholuo, although not fluently.
The incident was reported to Kitengela Police Station on 01/08/2022 and despite the police circulating her photograph, she has not been found.
The family is appealing to the public for help in tracing their missing daughter. Anyone who knows her whereabouts is asked to contact the nearest police station.
