Kakamega family: Our brother left for a funeral and has not been back

Henry Mukwanja displays a police report detailing disappearance of his uncle, Shole wa Shole. [PHOTO: ROBERT AMALEMBA/STANDARD]

KENYA: In July 2015, Shole wa Shole left his Lwanda-Kabras home for a funeral in Ikoli village and did not return.

His nephew, Henry Mukwanja, says the 60-year-old was expected home the next day and when he failed to show up, the family was immediately concerned because he has some challenges.

"My uncle was born to a dumb mother and this made him develop challenges in his speech. He was slow of speech and very few would comprehend what he was saying," he says.

Mukwanja, who lives in Trans-Nzoia County, says the matter has now fallen almost squarely on his shoulders as the family seeks answers as to what happened to their loved one.

"My uncle has no children who could be doing this and many of his siblings have since passed on with those left not in a financial position to conduct the search which requires constant traveling and making phone calls," he says.

According to Shole's brother, Lutomia, who had been living with him before he disappeared, the family suspects foul play in their brother's disappearance.

"We met with the clan of the people he had gone to condole with and it emerged that just before he disappeared, he was assaulted by unknown people during the night of the funeral. Some said he could have been fatally injured during the assault and buried in a secret grave," he says.

Not only has the family reported the matter to the police but they also immediately convened a meeting with Ikoli's sub-chief Walter Namusali to deliberate on this information. Lutomia however, regrets that these steps have not yielded anything.

They now fear that his mental condition and limited speech could be working against him and making it that more difficult to find him.

"We have also received numerous reports that he has been seen in three places including Ingolomosi, Ileho, Kakunga yet whenever we travel there, we do not find him," a visibly frustrated Mukhwanja says.

And although such reports bring anticipation that then turns into disappointment, it nonetheless gives the family hope that Shole could still be alive.

"We have also been assured by diviners that he is still alive even though visits made there are now proving to be rather expensive," he says.

Recently, reports that bodies had been found at a Kabras sugar plantation caught the family's keen attention.

"We rushed to the sugarcane plantation thinking perhaps his body was among them but it was not. Police also inform us each time there are unclaimed bodies at the Kakamega morgue but each time we go there, we do not find him," Mukwanja saiys.

The family continues to work closely with the Kabras police with Mukwanja saying he has recorded statements with them severally which has led to arrest of suspects thought to have kidnapped Shole.

And as the mystery unravels, Lutomia cannot help but wonder what could have happened to his brother who liked to keep to himself and engage in gardening - his one true passion.

While the family has no recent photo of the missing man, they say he is "grey haired and was wearing a green Kaunda suit when he left home".