Nine years on family waits for lost son

Daniel and Irene Tuei at their home Sugutek Village in Bomet County and their missing son Wesley Kibet

A family in Sugutek village, Bomet County, have unyielding hope that their son, Wesley Kibet Rotich, who went missing eight years ago is still alive and will come back home.

Daniel and Irene Tuei, Wesley’s parents, say at the time of his disappearance he was working at a hotel in Nairobi.

He had just graduated from the National Youth Service’s School of Catering in Gilgil where he was a student from 2000 to 2004, graduating with a diploma in food and beverage technology.

Daniel describes his son as a go-better who, after graduating from NYS, worked briefly in Litein town before trying his luck in Nairobi.

“My son seldom visited home but would call us regularly. However, toward the end of December 2007 his phone went off and seeing as this was the only link we had with him, we were effectively cut off. Worrying about his whereabouts keeps us awake night after night,” says the visibly distraught father.

Daniel says the only other information they have is that Wesley was living in Huruma estate with friends.

“His friends told us he left one morning in late December 2007 carrying a few of his belongings and promising to come for the rest. When he went quiet for a while, they tried to reach him but they too had no luck,” he says.

Wesley’s friends then made inquiries about him among other friends in Nairobi, as well as in police stations around the estate, but their efforts bore no fruit.

Adding to the family’s distress are false leads and hope coming from various quarters, including diviners, who they contacted in a bid to trace their loved one, who would be 37 years old now.

A year after Wesley went missing, a village mate who works in Nairobi informed the Tuei’s that he had met him at a city hotel but that he was too busy to catch up. Wesley, the village mate said, had claimed to be unaware that his family was searching for him.

Daniel says they had some misgivings about that report but his account nonetheless boosted the family’s belief that Wesley is indeed still alive.

Soon after, Daniel says he met a man who claimed he would help him find Wesley and demanded Sh4,000 to carry out the “work”.

“I beseeched him to take Sh1,800 since that was all I could afford. He pocketed the amount, took a photo of my son and off he went, never to be heard from again,” he said.

Another diviner turned con-man, heightened the family’s expectations by claiming his magic revealed that Wesley was alive and working in a town somewhere near Mombasa.

Then in 2014, news filtered into the village that a man resembling Wesley had been spotted at Olbutyo - the shopping centre nearest to the Tuei’s home. Daniel rushed there only to be disappointed when the said man turned out to be a complete stranger.

“Many nights I dream that my son is alive and I see him coming home. But, when I wake up and reality hits me, I have very low moments. I nonetheless must soldier on as I wait for his return,” his mother tells us.

As we wind up our interview, Wesley’s two brothers - who were at home - tell us they can hardly wait to receive their brother with a big hug when he returns.