This archive report was first published on 19 November 2021.
November 18, 2021, marked the third week since 24-year-old Steve Gabriel Osiche went missing.
Osiche, a student at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, was last seen shooting a documentary at a carpentry shop where he previously worked for a college project.
His sister, Dorothy Akinyi, stated that Osiche was last seen boarding a matatu at 10 pm in South B estate, Nairobi, on November 1, headed to the city centre.
The family is unsure if he arrived at his destination.
Ms Akinyi recalled that her brother 'was fine and did not seem to have any issues whatsoever.'
However, the family suspected foul play after he failed to call his mother or his girlfriend for two days.
Ms Akinyi stated, 'That is when we started asking around… Only his friend in college told us that he saw him board a matatu to town.'
Osiche's girlfriend, Ms Ann Lumumba, believes that business rivalry could be the reason for his disappearance.
She stated, 'He told me his previous employer was not happy with his move because most of his clients followed him to the other shop. I suspect that his former employer knows something about his disappearance.'
However, Kennedy Onyango, the owner of the shop, denied any involvement in Osiche's disappearance.
He stated, 'He came with his friend and they spent some time taking videos of the machines and the staff working. We all know he’s so interested in media production that he even enrolled to study it in school. I left and when I came back, he had gone. That was the last time I saw him.'
The matter was reported at Kayole Police Station, but the family's hope that the state would help them trace their loved one is waning.
