Church elder knelt down to pray and then vanished

Cleophas Nyongesa Milikau before he disappeared.

Kakamega; Kenya: He was last seen kneeling on the verandah of the African Church of Jesus Christ in Kenya, popularly known as Mulembe Church, or church of peace. No one has seen him since that cold morning in May 2007.

The family of Cleopas Nyongesa Mulikau, a 57-year-old Railways retiree from Imatende village, Igotse location of Kakamega County is, however, still hopeful that he will one day walk through the gate.

Mulikau, a father of seven, retired early from Kenya Railways as a trolley driver in 2001 to concentrate on cattle farming and till his three-acre farm to sustain his family,

“He was a godly man and on the material day, he informed me that he was leaving at about 9am. It was a Saturday that coincided with our daughter’s parents’ day at school, I assumed he was heading to the school but it turns out he did not go there,” says a pensive Kelesenzia Nyongesa, his wife.

Kelesenzia says she does not believe that it was the last time she was seeing a man whom she had lived with for more than 25 years. She says there was no conflict and even if there was, her husband always maintained his cool and was forgiving.

Kelesenzia says her husband’s lowest moment was when his six cattle were forcefully taken by a bank when a relative he had guaranteed failed to repay a loan.

“Mulikau was very depressed and started behaving abnormally, exhibiting a demeanor that was uncharacteristic of him. He even cut communication with his family and friends. That was in 2005 but before his disappearance, he had shown signs of having moved on,” Kelesenzia says.

When she looks at pictures of her husband, she is overcome with emotion and lets her son, Hillary Nyongesa, 31, carry on.

“Dad left everything, including his ID and phone behind. We have spent a lot of money going to Kisumu and Nakuru where he worked in the hope of bumping into him,” says Hillary who left a job he was doing in Kisumu to come and take care of his mother and younger siblings.

“Witchdoctors have assured us that he is alive. We have so far spent around Sh150,000,” says Hillary.

At the time of his disappearance, Mulika was a church treasurer.

“We saw him head to Kakamega after kneeling in the verandah of the church. No one questioned his praying on a Saturday because we knew he was a church man,” says a church member.

After reporting the matter, Mulikau’s family spent the first three years visiting mortuaries and hospitals.

Luhya tradition demands that a banana stem be buried in the place of a relative who disappears but Mulikau’s family has not done that because they believe he will come back.

Jemmillah Nyongesa whose father left when she was in Standard Seven has since sat her KCSE exams and is waiting to join university. She wishes her dad was around because he yearned to see his children join university.