Journey of faith that led to boy’s disappearance

By Stella Mwangi

She loved her son so much that seeing him suffering with disability was a big torture.

So when Stella Rono heard of a prayer meeting last August that promised to heal the child, she made a hasty decision to take the 10-year-old boy for the miracle crusade.

Regrettably, the quest to seek divine healing ended in misery after the boy went missing.

Since that day on August 21, Benson Rono’s family has been living in agony searching for their son, Felix Kibet.

Benson Rono with a picture of his missing son Felix Kibet. Photo/ Boniface Thuku-/ Standard

Stella had to travel from their home in Bomet to Nairobi for the crusade even without informing her husband Benson, who is an electrician in Nakuru.

The couple says it had struggled to provide their last born with a normal upbringing despite his speaking difficulties and retarded growth.

It was Stella’s friends who had advised her to take her son to the prayer meeting.

"My son could not speak clearly and his growth was not like that of normal children. At 10, he could not walk or stand properly. I tried everything so that he could be rid of his disability," Stella says with a tinge of sadness in her voice. She is overwhelmed by emotion that she is unable to tell the story.

But Rono takes over from her and narrates the sad story that has caused them sleepless nights.

He says that his wife, son and some villagers left for Nairobi on August 21, last year to attend the ‘Repentance Kenya’ prayer meeting presided by prophet Owuor. It was being held at Kasarani Stadium.

"It was on the final day of the meeting when the boy disappeared as she was praying. She was so engrossed in prayer and in the belief that her son would heal when the ‘power of prayer’ overwhelmed her and she collapsed," he says.

Strange events

"She told me that all through the meeting the boy was by her side. It was only after she regained consciousness that she realised he was missing," he says.

Stella then embarked on a search in the crowded stadium but did not find him. She continued her search the next day.

It is after failing to find him that Stella decided to notify her husband.

Rono joined his wife in Nairobi the following day. Since then, they have been moving from one town to another looking for him.

"Since he had disappeared in Nairobi, we thought it was best that we keep searching for him there. We first reported the matter at Kasarani Police Station," he says.

"Then we searched all hospitals, mortuaries, children homes and police stations for the next three weeks," he adds.

It was while in Nairobi that they received misleading calls that have seen them visit Eldoret, Athi River, Kakamega and other towns thus depleting their savings. Rono says that a man who identified himself as a pastor told him that a woman had informed him that she was hosting a boy who suited his son’s description in Kakamega.

He unsuccessfully tried to get the woman’s contact. They then travelled to Kakamega not aware where to begin the search.

"We reported the matter to the police in the town and ran an advert in one of the radio stations asking anyone with our son to bring him to Bukhungu Stadium. We would report there every morning and wait the whole day but nobody showed up," he laments.

Search trips

They waited for 12 days and at some point they had to sleep at the stadium as they could no longer afford a hotel room.

Since the day the boy disappeared, it has been a life of misery. Every day, the mother blames herself for the disappearance of her son.

So desperate have they been that whenever anyone tells them that their son has been located some place, they pack their bags and travel there. Such trips have exhausted their savings.

"I can no longer work as much as I used to because every now and then I have to travel in search of my son. I can’t concentrate on anything else as I think about him all the time," says Rono.

In November last year, they camped at Nakuru Show Ground for five days hoping to find their son.

"There was a prayer meeting being held in Nakuru. After reporting at the pastor’s office in Nakuru, we were told that our son could be brought there as one of the lost and found children. Together with other villagers we camped at the grounds from Wednesday to Monday and searched the whole area," he says. Despite making public announcements during the crusade, the search party did not find the boy.

Desperation is fast catching up with the two parents but they are fighting hard not to lose hope.

Stella says that everyday, she wonders how his son lives since he was unable to communicate properly. Her only hope is that he is with a Good Samaritan.

Rono asks whoever knows his son’s whereabouts to contact any police station or to reach him on 0723850327.