Adventurous son causes mother sleepless nights

By Kiplang’at Jeremiah

Tears flow freely from Teresia Nyambura’s eyes as she narrates the last moments with her firstborn son late last year.

Memories of her young and adventurous son who always kept her busy with a myriad of questions every evening are still fresh in her mind.

Her 10-year-old son, Vincent Rotich Mwangi disappeared on November 10, last year.

"I do not know where to look for him because I have travelled extensively in the country looking for him but I am yet to find him," Nyambura says.

CRY FOR THE BELOVED: Teresia Nyambura, mother to the missing boy.

Her son, a former pupil at Wonderland Integrated Primary School in Githurai 44, Nairobi left home after breakfast and has never been seen again.

It was during a brief break from school to allow candidates sit KCPE.

"He went away without telling anyone not even his younger sister who was with him that morning," the mother of two says.

Uncertain journey

Teresia Nyambura had gone to work at Wonderland Integrated Primary School where she is a cook. She left her two children, Vincent Mwangi and Faith Mwambia, asleep. She did not bother to wake them up because she had always left them sleeping and they would serve themselves breakfast.

"I always prepared breakfast and placed it at a specific place where they could find it while I was out," the mother of two said, her face betraying pain and fatigue.

Nyambura always returned home in the evening to find her children well and eagerly waiting for her. They would together enjoy the rest of the evening as her children briefed her on what had transpired throughout the day. Her children were always safe.

"My daughter came to school to tell me that my son had disappeared. She told me Vincent was not home and had left her alone after taking breakfast," Nyambura remembers.

"I told her to go back home and assured her that Vincent would come back soon. I thought he had gone to play with his friends in the estate as he had always done," she says.

When she called one of her neighbours at around four in the evening to enquire whether her son had returned home, she was informed that he had not been seen yet. It is then that Nyambura sensed something was amiss. She left work early and only found her daughter at home. Vincent had not been seen the whole day.

"Neighbours told me he was in the compound at around 9am," Nyambura remembers bitterly.

Her son’s disappearance has set her on a painful and uncertain journey as she tries to trace him.

Nyambura reported to Kiamumbi Police Station and was told to wait for 48 hours before her case could be entered in the missing persons’ record.

Vincent Rotich Mwangi who disappeared last year. Photos: Martin Mukangu

Dissatisfied with the action, she went to Kasarani Police Station the following day and recorded a statement. She also informed Githurai Location chief and a search around the estate was launched.

No information

The search mission was unsuccessful but Nyambura was not ready to give up. She opted to advertise in several media houses, both radio and television without success.

To date Nyambura has not received any information on the whereabouts of her son even though she has looked for him in almost every corner of the city and neighbouring towns. She recalls how she went to Narok early this year when she got wind that her son could have gone there. But it turned out to be a move by fraudsters to exploit her.

"Many people have come telling me that my son has been seen in some places but all have been cheats trying to exploit me," says Nyambura adding that she is no longer quick to go to any place without ascertaining the truth of the claims. Recently, she says she received information that some lost children were found in Eldoret but she is yet to travel there to check whether her son is one of them.

She says she has not received any assistance from the police ever since her son went missing.

Nyambura has refused to believe that her son could have died. Her hopes of finding him have not been extinguished by the unsuccessful attempts to locate him.

"I am not giving up yet. I will continue searching for my son," Nyambura said.