BY JOEL OKWAYO

When a young woman lands a good job and promises to support her siblings, her parents can only celebrate and thank God for the blessings. But when the unexpected happens and she mysteriously goes missing, a cloud of gloom and agony hangs over the family.

That is the experience Lillian Awinja Magomere of Butere District had with her daughter. For seven years now, she has not set eyes on Dorcas Kangu Andati, who left home in Western province after securing a promising job in Mombasa.

Lillian Awinja Magomere and her daughter Dorcas Kangu Andati, when she visited her in Mombasa before she went missing. {PHOTOS: BENJAMIN SAKWA /STANDARD}

Andati left home in 2002 after she got a job at Kenya Aerotech. But in 2003, she only wrote to her family once before communication between her and her parents went cold.
Since then, her parents have remained in the dark over her whereabouts.
Andati’s mother says her daughter’s mysterious disappearance has remained a big burden to the family.

Communication breakdown

Andati sat for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2000 at St Mary’s Mumias Girls and scored a mean grade of B but failed to join Moi University in 2002 because she had secured a job.
Since she went to Mombasa, she has never returned home to see her family and efforts to locate her have remained futile.

"We have been searching for her in Mombasa and surrounding areas in vain," her mother says.
Awinja says her daughter, who is the first-born in the family, opted for employment instead of going to university in order to raise money for educating her siblings. But her noble goal has never been achieved.

"We only heard that she shifted from Likoni to an unknown place," says Awinja. Their relatives in Mombasa who used to meet her there say they no longer see her.

They say she travelled alone to the coastal city and worked for some time in the first company before joining British Airways.

Awinja says a relative had allegedly met Andati last year in Mombasa but when she went to check for her, she was told Andati had migrated to an unknown place. She couldn’t verify whether it was indeed true that she had been seen by the relative.
Awinja says Andati wrote to the family in 2003 indicating that she was doing well. Since then, her mobile phone went off.

"Even if she got married, why hasn’t she brought the husband home? And why did she stop communicating? In case she is married, we shall not stop the marriage as we only want to have communication between her and us restored," says Awinja.
Awinja and her husband Dennis Andati Mainya showed the CCI team a letter written to them by Andati dated July 17, 2003.

"For now I have nothing to say because it’s mid month. I thank you and my mother for giving birth to Tony Magomere (the last born in the family)," read part of the letter.

In the letter, she said she had missed two opportunities to go to Sweden and Britain for university education due to financial difficulties.

"Right now I’ m trying another chance to go to Canada and please pray for me," wrote Andati. It was not clear who was assisting her to seek for studies abroad.

Since then, Awinja and Mainya say their daughter has never indicated whether she managed to secure a chance to travel abroad for studies or not.

Her school certificates are still intact at home and there was no way she could have left the country without such documents, they say.

"Our last born has never met Andati," says Awinja.

Awinja says they reported to the Butere Police Station but no assistance was forthcoming. "We are requesting whoever knows her whereabouts to inform us on telephone number 0729 252658," read part of the report made by the family.
Awinja says that she still hopes to see her daughter since no reports of death have ever been made to the family.

"The dream Andati had to assist her sisters and brothers has not been achieved because there has been no communication with her," laments Awinja.

"Her brother is now a student at Maseno University while her sister who was in primary school then is now in Form Three," says Awinja.
Only photographs of the bright girl taken while receiving
certificates and trophies for excellence in primary and secondary school remind them of their lost daughter.

She once topped in Chemistry and Biology in Butere/Mumias District examinations.
She also emerged top in Science Congress competitions in Western Province between 1997 and 2000.

Awinja, however, says the family has remained hopeful praying that one day they will see their daughter. She says the family has not undertaken any traditional practices to symbolise the death of their daughter.