College student vanishes after documentary shoot

When Steve Gabriel Osiche shot a documentary at the carpentry shop where he previously worked for a college project, his friends and family knew they would see the final output in a few days’ time.

Almost three weeks later, they are yet to see the final product after the 24-year-old final-year student at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication vanished a day after shooting the video.

He was last seen boarding a matatu at 10pm in South B estate, Nairobi, on November 1, headed to the city centre. No one knows if he arrived at his destination.

His sister, Dorothy Akinyi, saw him last on October 26, when she, together with her husband and son, visited him at his house in Mowlem along Kangundo road.

It was during this visit that her brother informed her of his project. They made a deal: he would record the video and write the script, then she would voice it.

“My brother is very passionate about media and has always had this dream of owning a production studio,” Ms Akinyi said.

The siblings then shared a meal, and as Ms Akinyi recalls, her brother “was fine and did not seem to have any issues whatsoever”. Four days later, Mr Osiche arrived at the carpentry shop in Dandora, a camera in hand, and took videos of the machines being operated.

A few hours later, Ms Akinyi received the script from his brother as earlier agreed. She voiced it and then sent it to him the very same day. That is the last time they spoke. He left for school the next day and has never returned.

His family knew something was amiss when he did not call his mother or his girlfriend for two days.

He used to call them every day, at times “even thrice in a single day”, his sister said.

“That is when we started asking around... Only his friend in college told us that he saw him board a matatu to town,” Ms Akinyi said.

His girlfriend, Ms Ann Lumumba, however, believes that business rivalry could be the reason for Osiche's disappearance.

His boyfriend, with whom they have a one-year-old child, had informed her that he had recently left his carpentry shop for another one citing low payment.

“He told me his previous employer was not happy with his move because most of his clients followed him to the other shop. I suspect that his former employer knows something about his disappearance,” she said,

However, Kennedy Onyango, the owner of the shop, told the Nation that he had no issues with Mr Osiche and was pleased when the young man went back to his shop to shoot the documentary on October 31. He described Osiche as a very disciplined man who was always willing to help.

“He came with his friend and they spent some time taking videos of the machines and the staff working. We all know he’s so interested in media production that he even enrolled to study it in school. I left and when I came back, he had gone. That was the last time I saw him,” he said.

The matter was reported at Kayole Police Station, but the family’s hope that the state would help them trace their loved one is waning.

“We’ve been following up with the police but they keep telling us they’re stuck on getting information from mobile operators. They keep telling us the systems are not okay and that they will update us as soon they can,” Ms Akinyi said.

The Kayole Sub-county police commander declined to comment on the matter.

The family hopes Osiche is safe wherever he is and that he’ll come back home soon. They are pleading with the public to pass any information they have through mobile number 072525287.