Kenya has been shaken once again. This time, by the brutal and heartbreaking death of 12-year-old Patience Mumbe—a young girl whose only mistake was trusting the world around her. Her story is not just a family’s tragedy. It is a national indictment. It is a loud, painful reminder that our children are no longer safe, even in the places they should be protected the most.
Patience went missing from her home in Pipeline, Nairobi, on December 4, 2025. For two long days, her family searched tirelessly, praying she would be found unharmed. However, on December 6, that hope was cruelly destroyed. Her body was discovered dumped in a trench in Embakasi, bearing multiple injuries – indicating the unimaginable violence she was subjected to.
On Tuesday, December 9, I participated in her postmortem, standing beside two pathologists who examined her remains with sombre professionalism. However, no expertise could soften the horror of what they documented.
It was confirmed that Patience had been hit on the head several times, her skull injured by a forceful blow. She had also been strangled, her young life viciously cut short. To compound this already unbearable cruelty, she had been sexually assaulted by her attacker or attackers.
Her body told the story of torture. From head to toe, she bore marks of injuries, signs of intense suffering and fear in her final moments. As I stood there, looking at the lifeless body of a child whose entire future had been stolen, I felt a profound grief. Not just as an activist but as a father too.
I am the father of a 12-year-old girl. I know the laughter, energy, curiosity and dreams that fill a child at that age. The thought of another parent now mourning a daughter whose innocence was crushed in such a brutal manner is indescribably painful. It is a nightmare no Kenyan parent should ever live through.
Yet here we are, again, burying a child because our systems failed.
According to the DCI officers handling the case, no arrests have been made so far. Patience’s killers remain unknown, untraceable and still roaming freely – a chilling reality for every family raising children in this country. Each day that passes without an arrest is a reminder of how exposed our children truly are.
This is not a tragedy we can ignore or reduce to a headline. Patience’s death must compel us to confront a truth many prefer to avoid: Kenya is not safe for children, not on their way to school, not in their own neighbourhoods, not even in broad daylight.
We must stop pretending. If a child can be abducted, assaulted and murdered in Nairobi, one of our most monitored counties, what does that say about safety in less policed areas? How many more children have to disappear before we admit that something is terribly wrong?
This is why I make this call with deep conviction: The government must immediately tighten security around children. Not eventually. Not after another tragedy. Not in another policy paper. Now. We need more surveillance and patrols in residential areas and faster response when a child is reported missing.
We must also ensure stronger community policing structures to work with the police. Further, there should be real consequences for police negligence. To top it all up, we should introduce a dedicated national strategy on child protection and safety under which we will have trained officers specifically handling child-related disappearances and crimes.
Predators thrive where systems are weak. Right now, our systems are failing our children catastrophically. We must do everything to change this sorry situation. We must also hold our security agencies to higher accountability.
It cannot be normal that children disappear and die, and no one takes responsibility. It cannot be normal that killers roam free while families bury their babies. It cannot be normal that we are left with more questions than answers.
I urge all Kenyans to raise their voices, demand accountability and call for better policing. Kenyans must demand justice for Patience and many other children who have been senselessly murdered. It is not just about one child. It is about the safety of every Kenyan child. The responsibility to protect them belongs to all of us.
Patience’s story should haunt us, but it should also mobilise us. Her short life must not end in silence. Her death must shock us into demanding a Kenya where children can simply live, play, walk and grow without fear. May her innocent soul rest in peace, and may her tragedy awaken a nation that has slept too long while its children suffer.
The writer is the CEO, VOCAL Africa
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
