Missing MoH staffer found at prayer centre

Alice Wangui Gathumbi. [Courtesy]

A senior official at the Ministry of Health who was reported missing has been found safe, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said on Saturday.

Alice Wangui Gathumbi, 40, casually left her home in Syokimau on October 29 and was reported as missing on November 2 at Mlolongo Police Station.

The senior administrator, in security footages reviewed by the police, was seen being picked by a boda boda rider outside her home at 6:38am.

She did not show up for her appointment with a hairdresser scheduled for 9:00am on that day and with her phone switched off, her family was worried.

Her husband Job Mugo -- who described Wangui as a strong and jovial woman -- told local television that they had looked for her in hospitals and mortuaries in Nairobi.

"It has been quite tough for me and the kids who need their mother around them," he said, adding that they remained positive she will be found.

A team from the Crime Research and Investigations Bureau and Special Service Unit at the DCI traced Wangui to KAG Katoloni Prayer Centre, Machakos.

The officer said she had checked herself at the centre on October 29.

Elsewhere, a Kenya Defence Forces senior private is among four people arrested by DCI officers stationed at Kasarani, Nairobi for kidnapping.

The four -- two men and two women -- are accused of kidnapping a 24-year-old man from his house in Kasarani.

"Upon receiving this report from the victim’s relative, investigations commenced immediately leading to the rescue of the victim who was holed up in a house at Kahawa Wendani," DCI said in a statement.

Police said they recovered a Toyota that was used to pick the victim from his house and his mobile phone among other items.

"Further investigations are on course to establish the motive of this incident," the detectives said.