Not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead is the agony many families of tens of missing persons are suffering.
For those in captivity, their relatives are not sure whether they are in lawful custody or undergoing harrowing ordeals at the hands of faceless abductors.
Ms Dyline Sabina, the mother of Frankline Ondwari, who has been missing since July 17, says that the last time she called her son someone answered the phone, identified themselves as an officer and informed her that he had been arrested.
Speaking to the Nation , Ms Sabina said that the person further informed her that “mahabusu hawaruhusiwi kuwa na simu.”
“The person told me that there is no way I could talk to him as inmates are not allowed to have phones,” Ms Sabina said.
Earlier, she had spoken to Frankline who requested for Sh3,000 so that he could be set free, and the money was sent to his number through M-Pesa. Ms Sabina said that in as much as she was not allowed to speak to her son on that night of Tuesday, July 16, he would be free the next day as she had sent the money to secure his freedom.
Overwhelmed by the pain of not knowing the whereabouts of her son, Ms Sabina then requested us to go and interview her daughter.
On Wednesday, July 17, Ms Edith Nyangarisa, Frankline’s sister, called him at 6.45am. He answered the call and informed her that he was safe, and once he is allowed to go home he would get back to her.
This never happened and they have not heard from Frankline since. His mobile phone has gone off, leaving the family devastated.
The Nation interviewed Frankline’s close friend, Mr Emmanuel Inyiega, who said that he had been released by the police. According to him, after his release, Frankline then went to a friend’s shop located along Kirinyaga Road where he left his phone charging.
“I went to the police station and was informed that he had been released. Even when he went silent, I went back to the same station but he was not there,” said Mr Inyiega.
Frankline Ondwari disappeared on July 17, 2024, the very day he was released from Central Police Station.
Photo credit: Pool
Ms Nyangarisa said that other family members have been busy searching for him in various places within Nairobi.
“Those in Nairobi have gone to the City Mortuary and other morgues, they have searched for him in almost every police station within the city in vain,” said Ms Nyangarisa.
On Monday, the family decided to visit Kisii Police Station and officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) so as they could share their plight with hope that they would help trace his phone and find him.
In Nairobi, the matter was reported at Kasarani Police Station and recorded as Occurrence Book (OB) number 127/20/7/24.
The family’s most disturbing question that remains unanswered is was he released from Central Police Station in Nairobi or was he taken to court?
“It is so sad that the last time you spoke to someone they informed you that they are inside the cell at a specific police station and then they disappear never to be heard from again,” Ms Nyangarisa said.
She added that the last time her brother was at their home in Kisii County was during the December festive season.
According to her, Frankline is a calm man who is in most cases jovial and social, making friends easily.
“My mother is so confused and disturbed because of what is happening. We even decided that we should not put her phone number on the missing person poster to avoid her getting frequent phone calls,” Ms Nyangarisa said.
Frankline is among a number of people who have gone missing ever since the anti-government protests led by the youth kicked off on June 18.
Each new day, a case of a missing person is reported and the number is worryingly increasing even as the youth maintain that they will be in the streets again until their demands are addressed.
In Gatanga sub-county, Murang’a County, another family is distraught following the disappearance of their kin.
Mr Stephen Gitau and Ms Ruth Nduta hope their daughter, Ms Purity Njeri, is safe and will return home.
Purity went missing on July 11. And when her mother visited the Thika Technical Institute where she studied and called her, the young woman hung up her phone, never to be heard from again.
“She went missing the day the mother visited her in school to check her academic progress,” Mr Gitau told the Nation.
Purity Njeri Gitau was last seen on July 11, 2024 at Thika Technical Institute, when her mother visited her.
Photo credit: Pool
On that day, protests were reported in different parts of the country and it remains unclear whether she was affected.
“I just request that wherever my daughter is, just come home and if anyone knows her whereabouts, reach out to us,” Mr Gitau said.
Ms Susan Wangari Wanjohi of Sunton area, Kasarani sub-county, is disturbed following the disappearance of her son Emmanuel Kamau Mukuria.
Emmanuel, 24, also known as Junior, went missing on June 25, a day that demonstrations were held in various parts of the country.
Ms Wangari told the Nation that ever since her son disappeared, she has been visiting mortuaries within Nairobi in search of him.
“It is only the last three days that I have not visited any mortuary, the other days I have been going from one to the other in search of my only son,” said the distraught mother.
She has also been visiting hospitals and has been to every police station within the city, hoping to find her son.
Emmanuel Mukuria, 24, who went missing on June 25, 2024 during the anti-government protests.
Photo credit: Pool
Emmanuel, who worked as a tout within the city centre, went missing around 8.30pm. Ms Wangari was informed that her son was together with other touts when police officers fired a tear gas canister at them.
“Each scampered for safety and that was the last time he was seen. It remains unclear whether the officers arrested him and released him or not,” Ms Wangari said.
She added that some of the people who were with him that evening and were arrested had started being released.
“I also hope that my son will be set free so that he can come back home and go on with his normal life,” she said.
What complicates the matrix of finding him is that the young man had left his national identification card at home.
A search in all police stations within Kiambu, Nairobi and Kajiado counties have not borne any fruit.
Mr Daniel Kabusho, a taxi driver, has also been missing since the first day of the nationwide protests.
The father of three was seated in a busy hotel on Kenyatta Highway in Thika when a man approached him.
They had a conversation for some time before leaving together. In CCTV footage in our possession, they could be seen arguing.
At some point, he is seen hesitating to board a waiting silver double cabin pickup registration number KDN 176Z as he argues with the person who had joined him at the hotel.
Two well-built men then jump out of the waiting vehicle and grab Mr Kabusho before forcing him into it. Then one of the men rushes to another waiting white double cabin pickup registration number KCZ 724A, which speeds off behind the grey one.
Daniel Kabusho was abducted by unknown persons on Kenyatta Road, Kiambu County on June 18, 2024.
Photo credit: Pool
“That is the last time my husband was seen and that is the only information I have,” Ms Joyce Wanjiru said.
The matter was then reported at Kays Police Station on Gatundu Road, but to date, little has been done to help the family find him.
Asked whether her husband had ever raised concerns that his life was in danger, Ms Wanjiru said that all was well and he never had any fears.
“He is the breadwinner of this family. Even back at home in Wangige they also relied on him for almost everything,” she said, adding that those holding him incommunicado should release him.
Ms Wanjiru said that the family has been searching for Mr Kabusho and they have visited several mortuaries and police stations in Kiambu and Nairobi.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) recently said that at least 60 people have gone missing since the anti-government protests began a month ago.
KNCHR last week said that despite the continued calls for an end to the abductions, it has noted that kidnappings, illegal arrests and torture of innocent Kenyans have continued.
“So far a total of fifty-nine (59) people have been abducted or are missing. The number of those arbitrarily arrested is at six hundred and eighty-two (682). We condemn the abductions and arrests and demand an immediate and unconditional release of all the illegally detained persons in relation to the protests,” part of the statement by the commission stated.
The commission has already moved to court for orders of habeas corpus as it seeks accountability for missing and abducted persons.
Last week, the commission said that at least 50 people had died in relation to the protests. Some of the victims succumbed to injuries while they were undergoing treatment while some bodies were discovered under the debris of the burnt Sunbeam Mall in Nairobi.
The Nation understands that the State-funded commission is currently collating details of those who were killed, abducted and injured during the protests.
Abductions by security agents have been going on despite President William Ruto saying that there would be no cases of extra-judicial killings and abductions in his government.
Persons have been disappearing, some abducted in the full glare of the public by armed men in unmarked vehicles.
During a meeting on social media app X with some of the youth protesters early this month, the President urged families whose kin had disappeared to step forward and present themselves, along with the names of the victims, to him. This move, Kenyans said, has yielded nothing much.
