- His wife, Ann Njorage, a mother of a Form 1 girl, has urged the government to help her find her husband.
- She said her instinct tells her that Mbugua is still alive and he might have been overwhelmed by sickness in the bush.
Image: HESBORN ETYANG
The family of Mbugua Njeri, 34, who disappeared from Napeitom, in Turkana East, has asked the police to help them find him.
The family says they feel tormented over his disappearance day by day, saying it’s now the eighth day with an unsuccessful search by security team.
Mbugua, a police officer attached to the Napeitom patrol base in Turkana East, went missing on May 14 just six days after posting.
His wife, Ann Njorage, a mother of a Form 1 girl, has urged the government to help her find her husband.
“On the 9th of May Mbugua was posted in Napeitom and on Saturday during the day we spoke and he was well but at around 10pm when we spoke and I found out he was not in his senses,” she said.
“He was saying things that I could not understand. His colleague grabbed the phone and responded.”
She said she spoke to Mbugua’s colleague and told him to take care of him so that they can take him to the hospital in the morning.
“At around 11pm I made call to find out if he has slept but no body responded. I assumed they were asleep and I didn’t want disturb them. When it reached at 5am, I called but nobody responded,” Njorage said.
“When I called back at around 7am, Mbugua’s colleague responded and said that Mbugua is not around, and that he had left at around 6am to relieve himself and he has not returned.”
She said her instinct tells her that Mbugua is still alive and he might have been overwhelmed by sickness in the bush.
Ann Muchiri, in-law to Mbugua, has urged the police to intensify the search of the officer because he was sick and he could not have covered a long distance.
“We have been asking the police about the search of Mbugua, we are only told they are still looking for him. They have said there is a vehicle with police officers who have launched a manhunt search,” Muchiri said.
“The question we are asking the police, Mbugua was overwhelmed by sickness, we understand there is no way he can cover a long distance and yet it’s now a week and he’s still missing. How is it hard to find him?
Jeremiah Orwa, a friend to Mbugua, said the missing officer is a breadwinner and a jovial person who loved his job and the government should not relent in the efforts to find him.
He said if Mbugua had disappeared with a firearm, the government would have intensified the efforts of locating him but because he was unarmed, the government has relaxed.
Image: HESBORN ETYANG
The police report seen by the Star shows the officer went missing after showing signs of abnormality, which prompted his colleagues to restrain and disarm him.
The police say at around 6am, Mbugua requested to go and relieve himself but failed to return as expected.
“The in-charge patrol base has dispatched officers to nearby thickets to trace him but the footprints indicate he is heading to Lokori direction while dressed in civilians clothes and unarmed,” the police report reads.
Samuel Ndanyi, Turkana police commander, said they have dispatched security agencies to find him.
“The search is still going on and they have searched using drones but we haven’t found him,” he said, adding that they deployed KDF and GSU along the Napeitom-Lomelo road but their efforts have not borne any fruits.