Family in dilemma after two brothers go missing

Joseph Ngugi Macharia, 39, (left), a teacher at Kijabe Girls and his brother Moses Kamau, 37. The two went missing in Nakuru town on Monday, September 21. [Courtesy]

A family is seeking answers after two brothers went missing a fortnight ago.

Joseph Ngugi Macharia, 39, a teacher at Kijabe Girls High School, and his brother Moses Kamau, 37, went missing in Nakuru Town on September 21.

Macharia lived with his family at Salgaa trading centre along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway, while Kamau resided at Kwa Amos in Bahati sub-County. Their ancestral home is Engashura village in Bahati.

The family has been spending sleepless nights searching for the two, unsuccessfully, with information on their whereabouts scanty.

Their devastated aunt, Grace Njoki, told the Saturday Standard that the mobile phones for the two have been off for the two weeks, leaving the family in despair.

“It is worrying that we are not getting any clue on where the two are. We have contacted their friends but none seems to know their whereabouts,” Njoki said.

She said on the day he disappeared, Macharia was from his home in Salgaa going to attend a wedding committee meeting at Engashura. He was expected at the meeting at around 10am on that Monday.

However, he arrived in Nakuru town at 11am and decided to meet Kamau, who runs an electronics equipment shop at Pinkam Building in the town.

The two would later proceed for a meal in one of the Nakuru hotels.

“My nephew called the committee chairman and informed him to proceed with the meeting, saying he would join later. He insisted that he wanted to meet his younger brother, whom he had not seen for many days,” Njoki said.

At around 1pm, Kamau was called by his wife Mary Mweru, but he did not answer the phone. She called again at 2pm but still there was no answer. At 2.30pm, Kamau’s phone was switched off.

Kamau had told his wife he was meeting his brother, but did not tell her the hotel where they were to have lunch. Njoki said the wedding committee members were also concerned when Macharia failed to turn up.

Their whereabouts

The committee members and the family tried to reach out to the two, by contacting their friends, but they also did not have information on their whereabouts.

On September 25, the family reported the case of the missing brothers to Kiugoine and Nakuru Central police stations.

Njoki said the family has contacted several relatives and friends but none of them has any information about the two.

The family has also visited various hospitals in Nakuru, to no avail. “We are now confused. We spend sleepless nights praying for their safety,” Njoki said, sobbing.

“We do not know if the two are alive. We are urging anybody who may have seen them to share the information with the family. I do not want to imagine they were kidnapped or harmed.”

Macharia has two wives and is a father of four, while Kamau has seven children and two wives. The family appealed with the police to speed up the investigations. 

Bahati sub-County Police Commander Jacinta Wangechi said she was aware of the case.