Questions as grade 5 pupil told to escort sick friend home goes missing in Kayole

Despair hangs in Kayole following the mysterious disappearance of a 13-year-old pupil, Joseph Duncan Odhiambo, from Komarock South Primary School. The grade five student vanished on September 28, 2024, after attending his regular Saturday remedial classes, leaving his family in distress.

Joseph's father, Edward Otieno, became alarmed when he returned home late in the evening and found that his son had not come back from school.

"I dropped him off at Komarock South Primary in the morning before going to work. When I got home at 9PM, I was shocked to find he wasn’t there," Edward explains.

Concerned about his son's safety, Edward contacted James Mutuko, the teacher on duty, to inquire about Joseph’s whereabouts. Mutuko assured him that the boy was safe and promised to personally bring him home later that evening. However, as the night wore on, Joseph did not arrive, and Edward's calls to the teacher went unanswered.

"The teacher told me that he had sent my son to escort a sick friend home and reassured me that he would bring him back himself. But when I called again around midnight, he didn’t pick up," he narrates.

 

The following morning, Edward called the teacher again, demanding answers, but instead, Mutuko warned him to stop calling. Attempts to reach the school's management were futile, as the teacher also ignored calls from his colleagues and superiors. Desperate, Edward reported the matter to the Kayole Police Station.

"When I called the teacher on Sunday morning, he insisted my son would come home but told me not to contact him again. When his fellow teachers and even the school chairman tried to reach him, he refused to answer their calls. That’s when I decided to report the matter to the police," he recounts.

The teacher was later summoned by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kayole but was released after questioning. Efforts by Citizen Digital to get a comment from Mutuko were unsuccessful, as he hung up the phone upon introduction by the reporter.

Meanwhile, Joseph Duncan Odhiambo's family is appealing to the public for help in finding their missing son.