After 27 years, Thika man reunites with Kisii family 

A family in Kisii wants to be reunited with 32-year-old Moses Muturi, who was featured by the Nation yesterday as having been separated from his relatives at a young age.

The family said it heard Mr Muturi’s story on a vernacular FM radio station on Thursday morning and decided to buy a copy of the Daily Nation to check if the details shared matched those of their long missing son, who allegedly disappeared in similar circumstances.

“What we saw shocked us as his face has this striking resemblance to my mother and sisters. This must be our long lost brother,” explained Lawrence Sagini, first person to contact the Nation when he read the story.

Mr Sagini then shared the story with his parents and siblings and within no time the story reached his relatives in the United Kingdom and back in their village in Kisii.

For his part, Mr Sagini’s brother Fred Makori, who lives in Kitengela and is the third-born in the family of six (excluding Mr Muturi), told the Nation that their parents had told them about their brother who went missing after being sent by their uncle to buy cigarettes.

“The story said that our brother went missing in the late 1990s. At the time, our brother was living with our grandmother, who later relocated to the United Kingdom,” he said.

Overwhelmed

The news that Mr Muturi had been found was received with greater shock by their mother, who the brothers said has been crying since she saw his picture in the newspaper.

“She has managed to talk to him and is planning on a meet-up. We might be required to get DNA tests just to be sure, but I am convinced that he is our brother,” Mr Sagini said.

Equally overwhelmed at the news that he has a family somewhere is Mr Muturi, who for the better part of yesterday was unable to attend to his duties.

His phone kept ringing as his newfound relatives kept calling him.

“Yes, they have contacted me and we are planning to meet,” Mr Muturi told Nation.

Mr Muturi went missing as a child after his uncle sent him to buy cigarettes.

No recollection

Instead of buying cigarettes he returned with sweets, attracting his uncle’s wrath.

“Instead of cigarettes, I bought sweets and my uncle wasn’t amused. He beat me up. The beating attracted the attention of the public, who took me to hospital, where I was admitted for about three days, while my uncle was arrested,” he recalled.

Mr Muturi was discharged from the hospital a few days later and picked up by well-wishers, who got him admitted to the Nairobi Children’s Home in Kabete before he was transferred to Thika Children Rescue Centre, where he grew up.

He has lived most of his life unsure whether his family ever searched for him and where they were.

He has no recollection of where his family lived, as most of his childhood memories are of the time he spent at the Thika rescue centre.

“Even if it turns out that they are not alive, I’ll have at least known who they were. I’ve seen stories of people who have been reunited with their relatives after missing for decades. There’s hope,” he told Nation on Wednesday. 

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