In the heart of Mutukanio village in Nakuru's Bahati sub-County resides a family haunted by a two-year-long mystery.
Elderly couple Maxwell Mankone and Esther Kerubo raised nine children but are unable to account for two sons who went missing under mysterious circumstances.
The two say Vincent Motari, 26, and his elder brother Calvin Ombote, 35, disappeared without a trace, and the family is grappling with the absence of any evidence regarding their whereabouts.
The family has been engaged in a relentless quest for closure, facing challenges and disappointment with authorities they feel have not done enough to solve the mystery.
The family believes the police may be connected to the fate of their missing kin, citing events leading up to their disappearance.
According to Ms Kerubo, her two sons were taken from their house in Lanet and driven away by individuals suspected to be police officers.
Recalling her last encounter with them in an interview with the Nation , Ms Kerubo shared the details of her sons' final moments before vanishing.
She says Ombote, who was married with three children, resided on the family's land while Motari lived in a rented room in Lanet.
Brothers Vincent Motari and Calvin Ombote, who disappeared two years ago in Lanet, Nakuru County.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
The last time Ms Kerubo saw her Motari was in December 2021 when he brought her Christmas gifts before returning to Nakuru for work. Despite maintaining phone communication, this was the last physical meeting with her son.
“He was an obedient, hardworking and responsible son who had just started to establish himself in Nakuru. He brought me sugar and wheat flour during the Christmas season,” said Ms Kerubo.
She says Ombote was fond of rural life and decided to join his brother Motari in Nakuru to explore new opportunities where the latter operated a bodaboda business.
Also, according to the family, Ombote’s love for alcohol was not doing him any good so the family agreed to have him join his brother in Nakuru to see if he can turn things around.
However, when he left for his brother's place on March 10, 2022, his mother was not present, and she learned about it later that evening.
The family's attempts to seek assistance from authorities faced challenges, with an alleged hostile encounter at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Nakuru.
“After being discharged from the hospital I took my whole family to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Nakuru but the officer in charge chased us out threatening to apprehend and lock all of us in the cells,” said Ms Kerubo.
Ms Kerubo reported the disappearance to Bahati police station and several other stations, launching a search for the brothers at various morgues, but all efforts yielded no results.
As the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, spanning two years, the health of the elderly couple deteriorated.
Ms Kerubo, now unable to walk upright due to high blood pressure, expressed the toll the situation has taken on her saying she experiences nightmares and vivid dreams of her sons in distress, exacerbating her anguish.
“Nowadays people think I run mad as I always find myself talking alone. I get nightmares at night as I always see my sons in distress call me in my dreams,” said Ms Kerubo.
The family's resources have been depleted by the search efforts and medical expenses, leaving them in a precarious situation.
Ms Kerubo's condition continues to worsen, and the family is struggling to cope with the emotional and financial burden.
"As a family, we are concerned that two people can disappear for good and never to be found. Let the police help us trace them. We are ready to receive them, even if they are dead so that we can give them a deserving burial,” she told the Nation.
The young men’s father remains resolute in his quest for truth, vowing to fight until the mystery surrounding his children's disappearance is unravelled.
The family's anguish is compounded by the lack of closure and the unanswered questions surrounding the last moments of Vincent and Calvin.
“I raised my children very well and had never received a report of them being involved in criminal activities. None of them has ever been arrested,” he said, adding the family ‘literally stopped living the moment they received the report of the sons’ disappearance.’
He went on: “The report we got is that on the day they were arrested, they were all in Motari’s house together with a girl who was his friend. The girl told us that people who claimed to be police officers stormed the house and asked Motari and Ombote to get into an awaiting salon car which was white.”
He revealed that the vehicle which had no registration number plates drove away after the woman was locked inside the house.
Later on, the woman also disappeared from the area and has never been seen.
“We believe she was intimidated by the police who felt she was giving out too much information,” said Mr Mankone.
The father said he was with Mr Ombote on March 7 two days before he left when he shared with him his resolve to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
“I have seen police finding the people who go missing or their bodies, I am wondering why it has become so difficult to trace my sons,” said Mr Mankone.
Ms Rose Moraa, a sister to the brothers, said she was aware Mr Ombote was looking for a job before he left the home.
The uncertainty surrounding their disappearance has left the family in distress, forcing them to file a petition before the court seeking answers to their questions.
In June 2022 one of their brothers Benson Ayuka filed a petition before the court seeking orders to have the police compelled to produce the bodies of the two brothers after accusing the police of killing them.
Mr Ayuk in his petition had alleged that the police had taken his brothers and took them to an undisclosed location where they likely killed them.
