Family of missing officer ‘denied help’ to find him, body

 

By FRANCIS NGIGE

Ten days after 42 police officers were killed in Samburu, it appears authorities have no plan to assist families of the slain officers.

The Government has not made public any plan to help families know the fate of their kin as exemplified from the experience of one family in Nyeri County.

The family of Administration Police Constable Daniel Kamau Githinji cannot describe the agony it has gone through in the past ten days. And they don’t know whether it will ever end.

It has been traumatising trying to find the whereabouts of their kin who was among the officers caught in the botched operation to recover stolen livestock in Baragoi, Samburu.

They have knocked many doors of government offices seeking information about their missing son, but nothing has been forthcoming.

Kamau’s father, Joseph Githinji Wanjohi, was yesterday at a loss on who to turn to as the Government, which his son served, turned a deaf ear to their enquiries.

The family from Karatina has made countless trips to police headquarters in Nairobi and Chiromo Mortuary in search of Kamau or body without success. A similar check at Kenyatta National Hospital where survivors are recuperating has also been negative.

The relatives are now pleading with the relevant authorities to understand their plight and tell the whereabouts of their son.

“If the Government is not willing to assist us find our son, we are wondering what other alternatives we have. Our enquiries are not being treated with any seriousness from the Office of the President,” said Wanjohi, who visited The Standard Group Nyeri office yesterday.

Wanjohi added: “If our son was one of those killed, we just want his body to give him a decent burial. Maybe there is a family that made a wrong choice while identifying the body of their kin.”

asked for airtime

Wanjohi who was accompanied by other relatives said he started the search of his first-born son immediately he learnt about the tragedy.

“I was away in Kampala with my fellow teachers for an educational trip but had to cut short the journey after hearing news of the Baragoi massacre. I had talked to my son before he embarked on the trip for the operation,” said Wanjohi.

He said Kamau, who was based at the Trans Nzoia West District headquarters, had called him a day after they arrived in Maralal ready for the operation. “I talked to him that fateful Sunday as he requested for Sh100 airtime for his mobile phone. He said they were in some interior place. That is the last time I heard from him,” said Wanjohi.He said the 31-year-old son who has a young wife and a child has been missing after the cattle rustlers ambushed the police officers involved in the operation, killing more than 40 officers.

“The Government has been very unco-operative with the families of the missing officers. No one has been ready to give us answers. The families are being shoved from one office to another,” said Wanjohi.