Happy ending in the search for missing 5-year-old girl

After a month of sleepless nights following the disappearance of her five-year-old granddaughter, Consolata Mukhunji is now a happy woman.

This is after Maureen, her granddaughter who went missing in September, was found at a children’s home in Dandora phase 5.

Speaking on phone to Nation.Africa, Ms Mukhunji said she had informed all her friends and family who have been relentless in their efforts to locate the girl.

Over the weekend, her relatives in Dandora set out on another search mission, which led them to a children’s home.

As they were making their, inquiry Maureen heard their voices and came running towards them.

“I have my relatives living in Dandora and while they were going around the estate with a picture of Maureen asking anyone if they had seen her, one person directed them to make their inquiries at a children’s home in the area,” Ms Mukhunji added.

According to the proprietor of the children's home, Maureen was taken to their facility by police from Dandora Kinyago police station.

“According to the police, the girl was taken to the station by a woman who claimed that she found Maureen in the streets crying and she was all alone,” Ms Mukhunji explained.

Ms Mukhunji said her granddaughter revealed that two men took her but abandoned her at an unknown place.

Maureen went missing in September after leaving school for home. Ms Mukhunji lives with her three grandchildren in Huruma estate.

On the day of her disappearance, Maureen, a PP1 pupil at Huruma primary school, had left with other pupils at 1pm instead of waiting for her older siblings to pick her up.

“It has been a tough month for me, not knowing where my daughter is, not knowing if she is okay or not. It is a feeling I would not wish on any parent. But now that she is home safe and sound I thank God and all those who helped me in the search for her,” she said.

According to a report by Missing Child Kenya, a non-governmental organisation, at least 61 children were reported missing between March and May 2021. 

Thirty-three were found, with the whereabouts of the rest unknown.

It further states that at least 242 children were reported missing between January and December 2020; 125 were girls and 117 boys.

Some of them were found and reunited with their families, while others were taken to government shelters.

A few were found dead while others are still missing.

In June the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) warned parents about human traffickers targeting young girls to sell them as sex slaves: “Sex traffickers have come up with a new technique of kidnapping targeting teenage school-going girls or those who have just completed their secondary education.”