It is about noon on a chilly Thursday in Kisii. It is the third day after Grace Nyanchama’s three-month-old baby, Joshua Ongeri, went missing.
Ms Nyanchama, 28, and her husband Godfrey Somoni have spent the last three days at Nyanchwa Police Station, hoping to get news from detectives that their third-born child has been found.
But they return home in the evening dejected, confused, traumatised and just not knowing what is next for them after the loss of their child.
"On Tuesday, my son was crying a lot and I had to babysit him the whole day. Luckily, he slept late in the evening. By this time, my other two children had come from school,” recalled Ms Nyanchama at her Nyankongo home in Kitutu Central, Kisii County.
“I then realised it was getting late and we did not have enough water in the house. I left the sleeping child under the care of his siblings and rushed to the river," she further narrated.
Ms Nyanchama said she had left the baby under the care of her sons, aged 12 and seven. The 12-year-old is in Standard Seven.
Her husband, a carpenter, was away.
“The woman, known as Ruth, had approached me a month ago and requested that I rent my kiosk to her. I agreed because I was still nursing my newborn baby. I told her I would return to the kiosk after six months,” she said.
On the day her child went missing, she had left the suspected child thief at the kiosk.
Grace Nyanchama stares at the picture of her missing three-month-old baby at her home in Nyankongo, Kisii on July 16, 2021. The newborn baby was allegedly kidnapped by a neighbour who has since gone into hiding.
Photo credit: Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group
On coming back, she found her second-born son, who is in Standard Three, by the roadside and asked him how their baby was doing.
“I was shocked when he told me that the baby was not there. I went berserk for some time, undressed and ran along the road naked. I could not believe that my son was missing,” she said.
Later, she went to her house to confirm if her baby was indeed missing as she had been told by her son.
“I searched, but my little baby was nowhere to be seen. He is still missing and I just do not know what to do or say,” said Ms Nyanchama, who looks frail out of shock and despair.
“My elder son told me that he was playing outside with other children when the suspected child thief entered the house,” she said.
“He did not bother to check on the woman, probably because he did not suspect any foul play. His other brother was by the roadside, keeping an eye on the woman’s kiosk as instructed by her.”
“I later learnt that the woman boarded a motorbike with the child in her arms,” said Ms Nyanchama, noting that on checking the woman at her rented house, which is nearby, she was informed that she had moved to a new location the previous day.
They then reported their missing child at the Nyanchwa Police Station. Police have been trying to track down the woman.
“We do not want to reveal a lot of details as of now. But we are investigating the case,” he said.
