Puzzle of seven Nakuru men who disappeared without a trace

The disappearance of seven men in Nakuru in the past one year has left residents extremely worried about their safety.

The families of the men now want police to reveal where the men are.

A majority of them were handcuffed and taken away by men posing as police officers.

Were the missing men criminals? Were they arrested by police officers in plain clothes?

These are the questions that residents and relatives of the men are asking.

Two of the men are brothers who disappeared without a trace after having lunch in Nakuru city.

The duo – Joseph Macharia, 39, a teacher at Kijabe Girls High School, and Moses Kamau, 37, a land broker and businessman –went missing on September 21, 2020.

Mr Kamau also operated an electronics equipment shop at Pinkam Building in the Nakuru city centre.

Nearly two years later, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says it has no concrete leads on their whereabouts.

Signals from their phones were last located around Nakuru Golf Club, which borders the expansive Menengai Forest.

The brothers were known businessmen, but fresh details have emerged implicating the other five in a series of criminal activities in the Rift Valley region and beyond.

Although DCI detectives say they are still piecing together evidence to solve the puzzling abductions of the five, sources indicate that they may have been on police radar, with some described as wanted criminals who had had run-ins with rogue police officers in Nakuru.

The five were abducted between March 10 and 13 this year.

Among them, two brothers – Alfred Omboto Mankone, 38, and Vincent Motari Mankone, 25, – have been linked to a gang that has been committing capital robberies and rapes in the region.

The other three, who were also 'arrested' before they went missing, are Morris Ochieng, 25, Moses Kinuthia, 38, and Jeremiah Mwangi Mbatha, 36.

Sources told the Nation yesterday that security agencies may have been concerned about the involvement of some members of this group in criminal activities.

Mr Ochieng is a former convict who had served a 17-year jail term for murder-related charges at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison.

“The five have been linked to a gang that has been committing criminal activities and had run-ins with rogue police officers. Mr Ochieng was on probation after his release from the Naivasha Maximum Prison and was still dabbling with crime,” revealed a senior DCI detective.

Mr Ochieng, a casual labourer in JB Estate in Nakuru, was abducted from his house on March 10, at around 2pm, by two men posing as police officers, said his cousin Rhoda Imboso.

“They found him peeling potatoes for lunch in his house and ordered him out before he was handcuffed and forced into a waiting white Toyota. The abductors ransacked the house before driving away,” Ms Imboso said.

Mr Ochieng, a total orphan, was living alone. His nine siblings live in Molo. His disappearance was reported at the Mwariki Police Station under OB number 13/12/03/2022. Since his disappearance, his family has visited seven police stations and several mortuaries but have not found him.

Mr Ochieng was picked up the same day the Mankone brothers and their friend Mr Kinuthia were abducted in Kiondo estate, Lanet, about four kilometres from Mr Ochieng’s house.

The Mankone brothers were bodaboda operators in the Kiondo area, where they lived in a rented house.

The two were accosted at around 12 noon and abducted by four men, who identified themselves as police officers, said their brother Benard Ayuka.

“The four men posing as police officers claimed that they were taking them for interrogation. They were handcuffed and bundled into a waiting white Toyota Probox before it sped away,” Mr Ayuka said.

He reported the matter at the Pem Ways patrol base under OB number 04/13/03/2022.

The mobile phones of the three were switched off minutes after they were taken away. The men are still missing.

None of the witnesses could see the number plates of the vehicles used in the two incidents as they were covered.

Three days later, Me Mwangi and Mr Kinuthia were also abducted in a similar manner.

Mr Mwangi, a father of two, was picked up from a carwash at Maili Kumi, on the Nakuru-Nyahururu road, handcuffed and bundled into a waiting white Toyota saloon car before it sped off.

The incident was reported at the Bahati Police Station under OB number 29/13/03/2022.

The police in Nakuru deny that the abductors were police officers.

County Criminal Investigation Officer Anthony Sunguti said police did not arrest the Mankone brothers or the other three, because they were not under investigation.

“They were abducted by unknown people pretending to be officers. Investigations are still going on to establish who the abductors were,” he said.

"The fact that they had handcuffs does not mean they were police officers. Anyone can have handcuffs, including criminals. We are working on the matters and justice will be served.”

He said the police had received the abduction reports from the missing men’s families, who are also helping with investigations.

Police sources say the five may have been involved in a series of robberies and rapes.

“They had been linked to a series of … robbery incidents in Nakuru and neighbouring regions. Mr Ochieng, for instance, a former jailbird at the Naivasha Maximum Prison, was the gang leader of the deadly criminal gang," the sources said.

The police recently recovered a laptop stolen from a church in Maili Sita in the home of one of the missing men, leading to the suspicion that they may have been involved in crime.

The church robbery took place on March 6, staged by a gang of 10 people wielding a gun, swords and rungus.

The robbers stole household items including a laptop, electronics, gas cylinders, carpets and other items worth thousands of shillings and used a neighbour’s car to carry them.

The vehicle was found abandoned a few miles from the church.

The families of the missing men have urged Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to intervene.

On Monday, the Nakuru Human Rights Network (Nahurinet) director David Kuria, who is also the Nakuru County Independent Medical Legal Unit (IMLU) monitor, said he had written to the body about the incidents.

“I call upon detectives to speed up investigations and help the families trace their loved ones. I have talked to some of the family members and they say police have been dragging their feet in investigating the incidents,” Mr Kuria said.

But even as investigators in Nakuru say they have intensified their search for the missing persons, family members are worried about their whereabouts and want to find them.

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