Plight of mother still looking for son who went missing during June protests

Close to three months after the country witnessed deadly protests on June 25, the family of 27-year-old Peter Macharia is yet to trace their kin who went missing.

Macharia's family says they received a report that their son was among those who sustained gunshot wounds during the protests in the Nairobi CBD and was attended to at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) before being discharged.

Alice Wambui, Macharia's mother, recounted her journey over the last three months, explaining to Citizen TV that June 25 had been a normal day for her family when they had breakfast.

The countrywide demonstrations however changed everything, with her son leaving home and never returning.

"I saw him on that morning and we had breakfast together. The day before, I had warned him against going to Nairobi for the protests but on this particular day I forgot to do the same," Wambui said.

For the better part of the day, Wambui monitored the events on TV as protesting youth engaged police in running battles. Little did she know that her son could have been part of the group. It only hit her that something was amiss after Macharia failed to return home.

"The next day, I went to search for him in the company of my friends. We went to places like Kibera and Kawangware where he would normally frequent but we didn't find him. We reported the matter to police on June 27," she said.

Her hopes were briefly revived, only to be immediately crushed when she visited KNH and was informed that her son had been treated and discharged for gunshot wounds.

"They told me that my son was brought in by an ambulance. Hospital personnel examined him but my son was against being admitted in a ward and so they discharged him since there were many injured protesters at the facility," said the grieving mother.

"I was confused when I heard that my son was shot. I wasn't sure if he collapsed elsewhere after leaving the hospital and died."

Wambui, who has visited Nairobi Funeral Home five times, along with various hospitals, police stations, and human rights organizations, remains hopeful of finding her son despite the long wait.

Macharia is among 29 people who are still missing since the anti-government protests began three months ago, and where 60 others died, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).