Hashtag #WhereisBogonkoBosire revives search for missing Kenyan blogger two years later

NAIROBI: With the hashtag #WhereIsBogonkoBosire, Kenyans are renewing the unanswered questions about the disappearance of one of the country’s most controversial bloggers who has never been seen since September 18, 2013.

Officially known as Dickson Bogonko, the blogger with a   pungent social commentary that delighted his fans and enraged his detractors went without trace a day before the Westgate Mall Terror attack.

His parents, Esther and David Bosire, say that they are yet to hear from their son almost two years down the line.

Bogonko Bosire, who loved to spend his evenings at the closed Giggles Pub that is located next to Jamia Mosque, Nairobi, run the blog runs www.thejackalnews.com that mostly criticised media houses and journalists.

Through the website, that had the motto “We own the News and Gossip. You are either the source or the target,” he solely kept Kenyan media on toes.

In one month alone, he accused over 10 journalists of taking bribes. They denied the allegations.

 “My Website speaks about me. I am doing God’s work. I am using it to open up systems,” he said during an interview (He disappeared without trace before the interview was published).

He was also said to have crucial information on the cases facing Kenyans at the International Criminal Court (ICC), including that of Deputy President William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang.

Bogonko, a former AFP journalist, spent much of his life wandering the globe and reporting on the world’s trouble spots and meeting some of the world’s key leaders.

 “The late Sudan leader John Garang thought me the art of vodka drinking,” he recalled. “Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told me that you never go to any town to make friends. He said that when you come to a place, you come to fight for rights given to you by the Almighty God.”

As a journalist, his big moments included breaking the news that Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai was to win the Nobel laureate.

Bogonko was born in Kisii and schooled at Nyansiongo High School before joining the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC).

After college, he corresponded for AFP but was later on sacked.

Bogonko was an avid reader. His favourite books included Shakespeare’s Richard 3, Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, Tom Wolf’s Bonfire of the Vanities, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Maquez and Lee Harper’s To kill a Mockingbird.

“These are the kind of books that you read and love authors,” he remarked.

The blogger was a supporter of the Jubilee government and never spoke in praise of the opposition, CORD. He also despised radio personality Caroline Mutuko and former ICC Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo.

During the interview, he described CORD co-principle Raila Odinga as a failure

 “Raila is the portrait of failure. The devil has rejected Raila and God has declined to embrace him,” he said.

While praising the current government, he  said that President Uhuru Kenyatta was having the “ Frankline Roosevelt moment ” adding  “We Kenyan who are alive today are witnessing a historic moment like when the Berlin and Paris deal was signed ending the war. Uhuru will ride Kenya to greatness.”

The Police told the Standard that they are investigating posts on his Twitter Account claiming that he was “terminated because he became a loose mouth.” So far, the police have never made any arrests or questioned any suspect over his mysterious disappearance.