A family in Kisumu is looking for their son, a General Service Unit (GSU) officer, who went missing seven months ago.
Speaking in a televised interview on Thursday, January 20, the family of Joseph Otieno said they last spoke to him on July 7, 2021.
“Mimi ndio niligundua kupotea kwake. Tuliongea na yeye saa mbili akaniambia ati anakuja,” the mother said.
Otieno’s mother further said that after speaking to her son that month, she called to ask him if he was travelling to home in Kisumu alone or with his wife and children only to find that his phone was switched off.
“Nikipiga simi sikupata majibu. Ilikuwa imefungwa. Na hajawahifunga simu ata ikuwe saa ngapi. Na ukipiga utampata ata ikue saa ngapi,” the mother said.
She says her son’s second wife told him that she had communicated with Otieno earlier and he told him he was travelling home to Kisumu.
The wife later disclosed that she was in a salon before telling Otieno’s mother that she will call her later and update her on her son’s whereabouts.
“Saturday, huyo bibi akanipigia simu, ati mama, kile ulikuwa unasema ni ukweli. Simu ya Jose haiendi. Nimepigia marafiki zake wanasema hawajamuona. Hata simu yao wanapiga hawamupati,” she said.
Otieno’s 72-year-old father says his son was the breadwinner in the family adding that the family has been in psychological turmoil following his disappearance.
“Our son got lost on July 9, 2022, when he was on line of duty in Nairobi, Ruaraka,” he said.
The family is now appealing to Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and President Uhuru Kenyatta to aid them in tracing their son.
