Students and relatives of Julias Kamanja (inset) searching for him at a thicket at Siriba Campus in Maseno after he went missing on March 15, 2025.
A week-long joint search by Maseno University students and police officers for a missing student has ended in tragedy.
Julias Kamanja, a first-year student at the university, died by suicide, his family confirmed.
The 20-year-old, who was pursuing a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, went missing on Saturday, March 15.
His brother, Desmond Kiago, said he received a distress call on Sunday informing him that a body had been found and was asked to confirm the identity.
“At around 1 pm, one of the students who had joined the search with us on Saturday called to ask about my whereabouts and mentioned that a body had been found. When I arrived at the scene, I found my brother’s lifeless body hanging from a tree,” Mr Kiago told Nation in an interview.
Mr Kiago explained that he had travelled from Nyandarua to Maseno after receiving a call from Kamanja’s colleague on Monday.
Software developer
“From Tuesday, March 18, I have spent nearly Sh100,000 in the search for my brother. The police did very little and had to mobilise students to help search for him. The police only joined the effort on Saturday,” he said amid sobs.
Mr Kiago revealed that Kamanja had attempted suicide in December last year, but a colleague had intervened.
Following the incident, the university arranged psychotherapy sessions for him, which he had reportedly been attending regularly.
A notebook, believed to belong to Kamanja and seen by Nation, contained a list of six personal goals he had set for himself under the title “My Goals.”
Julias Kamanja, a Third Year Maseno University student whose body was found in a thicket on March 23, 2025.
Among them, he aspired to become a software developer and computer programmer.
One of his goals read: “By third year, I want to be self-dependent, without relying on my family. As I graduate, I don’t want to look for jobs—I want to be self-employed.”
Other goals included achieving financial discipline and staying free from drug use.
He left his hostel around 3 pm to buy lunch but never returned, leaving his family and fellow students deeply worried.
His roommate, Dennis Ochieng’, recounted that Kamanja stepped out wearing black sweatpants and a grey T-shirt, leaving behind his mobile phone and laptop.
“We got concerned when he failed to return at night,” Ochieng’ said, adding that attempts to reach him were unsuccessful, heightening their fears.
Ochieng further noted that Kamanja had appeared depressed for some time but never shared what he was going through.
As the hours turned into days with no sign of his return, concerned friends and the university administration reported his disappearance to Maseno Police Station on Monday, March 17, under Occurrence Book Number 52/17/03/2025.
Coptic Mission Hospital
On Saturday, March 22, students, along with Kamanja’s relatives and police, launched an intensive search before students discovered his lifeless body in a thicket within the university on Sunday.
Kamanja’s body was moved to the Coptic Mission Hospital mortuary in Maseno township awaiting postmortem.
“We will transfer the body to Nyahururu Hospital mortuary on Tuesday as we finalise burial arrangements in Kamukunji, Ol Joro Orok Constituency, Nyandarua County,” Kiago said.
Kisumu West Sub-County Police Commander Bernard Hungu confirmed that they have launched investigations into the cause of his death.
