Warder goes missing after carousing

By Antony Gitonga

Despite the scorching sun and dusty winds, the drinks kept coming one after the other with each tasting sweeter than the previous one.

Dust found its way to the dark bar and into the glasses but this did not deter the 10 revellers from imbibing in the backstreet bar. The torn and dirty black curtain that hung by the door acted more like a towel than a screen to those entering or leaving.

Its gaping holes were more evident than the curtain itself as the wind and the customers swayed it.

Inside the dingy bar, an old radio belted out a Lingala song that sounded familiar to the customers. The revellers joined in singing despite some not knowing the lyrics.

Among the revellers was a prison warder at Naivasha GK Prison, Mark Wafula Wanyama. He was out to have some fun away from problems at his workplace.

Wafula was in high spirits as he joined friends at the bar in Naivasha. It was on May 2, last year, and being a payday, the tables were full of beer bottles.

Unanswered calls

Wafula decided he had had enough and decided to head back home.

That was the last time he was seen. Nine months later, Wafula has never been traced. His disappearance remains a mystery and painful to members of his family and workmates.

A pensive Rebecca Akisa, wife of missing warder Mark Wafula Wanyama at their home in Naivasha during the interview. Photos: Antony Gitonga/Standard

For his family, every sunrise marks a day of hope, that he will call and assure them that all is well. But it has not happened.

His wife, Rebecca Akisa, says she has searched for him in hospitals, police stations, mortuaries and even prisons but has not traced him.

With tears in her eyes, Akisa says the last time she saw her husband was on April 30, last year, at the prison quarters.

"We had supper together and unlike other days, he was indoors all day. I did not know that this was the last time I would see him," she recalls.

Akisa, a grader at Sher Karuturi flower farm, says she married Wafula in 2000. She lives at her workplace in South Lake because she works late and to also cut on transport costs.

"I used to come to the prison quarters during my off days and he would also visit my place whenever he was free," she recalls.

The mother of two says on the evening of May 1, she called her husband to say that she had arrived safely.

When she called him the next day, the phone went unanswered.

"I got concerned and called his housemate who said that he had seen him that morning but was not sure where he was at the time," she says.

She had a peaceful night in the hope that her husband would return her calls. The next morning the phone still went unanswered. "I got concerned and decided to take an off from my workplace to establish if all was well," she recalls.

She travelled to Naivasha town and her fears were confirmed when a search yielded nothing.

Fellow warders got involved and started searching him.

Puzzle in prison

"I took my annual leave to look for him but at the end I had to return back to work or I would have been sacked," she says. The issue was reported to the Naivasha Police Station and relatives informed but no one seemed to know where Wafula had gone.

Akisa is full of praise for the officer in charge of Naivasha Prison Patrick Mwenda and warders who sacrificed their time to search for her husband. According to Mwenda, the issue is still a puzzle to many in the prison.

"Our officers have made every effort to search for the missing warder but our efforts have been unsuccessful," he says.

Mwenda says prior to his disappearance, Wafula had been interdicted over the December 2007 incident where eight death row inmates escaped.

His former roommate, Onyango Ouko, says that bar owners in the area where he disappeared always gave contradicting statements. Onyango, who had lived with Wafula for seven years, describes him as a gentleman.

"We left college at the same time and were both posted to Naivasha where we shared house until he disappeared mysteriously," he says.

Hope still alive

Onyango says he last saw Wafula when he was heading to a bar.

"I left him as I was to go to Nakuru for prison inter-games and I never saw him again until the wife called me to say he was missing," he recalls.

Onyango says that at one point a man said he had saved Wafula from harassment by some youths before he left the bar. And with that, the trail goes cold!

For the wife, still harbours strong belief that her husband will one day come home and ease the pain that they have undergone.

Her prayers and hope have kept her going as she patiently but painfully waits for her love.

NB: Any information can be passed through Tel No 0726-854112.

 

 

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