On May 21, Ms Hannah Waithera, an M-Pesa attendant, left her work station to deposit money in one of the banks within Nakuru city centre. That was the last time the 23-year-old was seen or heard from.
Ms Waithera, who operates a shop along Kenyatta Avenue, is said to have been sent by her boss around 1 pm to deposit the money as is routine. But five days later, her whereabouts remain unknown.
At her home in Mawanga Estate in Bahati constituency, Ms Waithera’s husband, Zachariah Wanjohi, her mother, Mary Njeri and her younger sister have searched for her in vain.
A portrait of Hannah Waithera, an M-Pesa attendant who went missing on Wednesday last week.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Ms Waithera’s three-year-old daughter, too young to comprehend what is happening, has been crying, asking for her mother.
According to Mr Wanjohi, a taxi driver, he was last with his wife on Tuesday, May 20, a few minutes before midnight when he left for town after he got a client.
On Wednesday morning, he spoke with his wife, who informed him that she was getting ready to go to work. Her sister was to travel back to Thika after spending several days with them.
The two kept in touch on Wednesday, and Ms Waithera told him she would visit the salon later that day. She requested him to send her Sh1,500.
Around 1 pm, Mr Wanjohi said Ms Waithera called him asking for the Sh1,500. That was their last conversation.
Thereafter, she was not picking up her calls or responding to text messages.
Mr Wanjohi said that he received a request to ferry a client to Subukia, and while he was on his way, he received a phone call from Ms Njeri, informing him that she had tried reaching out to her daughter, but she was not picking up calls. The two agreed that he would pass by her workplace.
A sad and shocked Mary Njeri, mother to Hannah Waithera, an M-Pesa attendant who went missing on Wednesday last week. They are accusing DCIO officers of mistreating and refusing to help in the search for her missing daughter.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
He later dropped another client at Salgaa, and around 4 pm, he proceeded to Ms Waithera’s place of work, only to be told that she had left to deposit cash in a bank and had not returned.
“Her colleagues told me she had left to deposit money, but they were not sure if she went to the bank first or to the salon. I made several phone calls but she still was not picking up calls. I was terrified," Mr Wanjohi recalled.
"I proceeded to the Nakuru Central Police Station to file a missing person report, but I was told to report after the lapse of 24 hours. While there, her employer came and filed a report that my wife had disappeared with Sh250,000 she had gone to deposit in a bank," he explained.
After she failed to return that evening, Ms Waithera’s mother was forced to travel to Nakuru on Thursday.
Together, they filed a missing person report on Thursday, vide OB number 43/22/5/2025, at the Nakuru Central Police Station.
According to Mr Wanjohi, Ms Waithera’s mobile phone was tracked to Kijabe in Kiambu, but it was later switched off around 6 pm, not far from where it had been located.
In Nakuru, the family faced another trauma.
People believed to be detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) stormed Ms Waithera's home and physically assaulted Mr Wanjohi and other relatives while his daughter watched.
Afterwards, they took Sh49,350 from him, alleging that they were recovering the money that her wife had fled with. Mr Wanjohi said the money was from his car hire business.
“They assaulted us and called us thieves, they claimed that we knew where Waithera was. One of the officers drew his gun and pointed it at me. They went ahead to say a fridge that we bought two weeks ago was proceeds of theft, but I have receipts. I feel like they are not willing to help us; they just want the money. Not my missing wife,” a tearful Mr Wanjohi said.
Hannah Waithera, a 23-year-old M-Pesa attendant, disappeared on May 21 after being sent to deposit Sh250,000 in a bank in Nakuru
Attacked by knife-wielding criminals
According to Mr Wanjohi, last month, his wife had been attacked by knife-wielding criminals who made away with Sh15,000 and other valuables. The incident was reported at the Teachers' Police Post.
“The DCI has been on my neck, they want the money, they do not want to trace her. For the three years we have been together, I have never seen her steal. For the one year she has been working at the shop, she has been depositing huge amounts of money. They are accusing me, and I am not involved. They should just look for her so that she tells us the truth. I am not siding with her,” he said.
An overwhelmed Ms Njeri called on the police to speed up investigations and help trace her daughter.
However, according to Nakuru County Commander, Michael Mwangi, police are investigating a case of theft.
"The police are investigating the theft of Sh250,000 that was reported. We will soon unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident," said Mr Mwangi.
