Son, where are you? Distraught mum asks

Peris Mumbi is a sad woman. Misfortunes have come knocking on her door in quick succession.

In December 2014, her 28-year-old son, Moses Mwaniki, disappeared. Then in November 2015, one of her other sons died following an illness. She was yet to come to terms with the loss of her third born son and did not know how to deal with loss of another member in this family of six.

"As a family, we are anxious about his whereabouts. If he is safe, he should at least communicate and assure us all is well," says the distraught mother.

The businesswoman, a resident of Umoja estate in Lanet, Nakuru County, is also pleading with whoever has information on the whereabouts of her son to contact her saying she has so far followed false leads in the hopes of finding her lost son.

The 43-year-old says this is not the first time Moses has disappeared from home. He was gone for about three months in 2013 and came back of his own volition. So, when he took off this time, they again remained hopeful that he would be back.

Peris says at the time of his disappearance, Moses was living with friends at Pipeline estate, off the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, and was working as a conductor with a matatu Sacco plying the Nakuru, Kisii, Kisumu routes.

"When he went missing, we thought he may have relocated to be nearer his work place. We later learned that he was not an employee of the Sacco. He just used to solicit available jobs from them," she says.

As with his first disappearance, Moses has not kept in touch with any of his family members. This time round, not even his closest friends know where he is and his phone number has since been deactivated

Peris says she has checked at the Nakuru Police Station, and others, thinking her son may have been arrested and locked up over traffic related offenses but he has not been booked in any of these places.

She describes Moses as a calm, sociable person who did not abuse drugs or take alcohol.

"He was a good person and an obedient child. He related very well with his family members and there is nothing the family did to push him away," she says.

Moses went to the nearby Ndimu Primary School but did not proceed to high school due to lack of school fees. He, however, did not sit idle opting instead to take on casual jobs in construction and in the matatu industry.

"I remain hopeful that Moses will one day return just like he did that first time he disappeared. I often dream of this homecoming and it is the one thing I look forward to the most," Peris said.

Her greater concern now is that Moses may not even be aware that one of his elder siblings passed away last year.