A photo has surfaced of a Nairobi domestic worker who disappeared with three children belonging to her employer, leaving their father desperate for answers more than a week after they vanished.
Sylvester Musyoka Mutua, a resident of Kawangware, Nairobi, said he arrived home from work one evening, only to discover that his three children and the nanny he had engaged were missing.The children are eight-year-old Zanellah Ndunge and six-year-old twins John Waydens and Zoella Hellen Mbatha.
The nanny, identified as Maureen Asiko Omboto, was hired earlier this year to take care of the children while their mother was overseas.
Musyoka had been bringing them up alone and employed the nanny so he could continue with his job.
According to a Facebook appeal he published, Musyoka alerted his neighbours immediately after realising the children were gone.
A search was mounted that night but turned up nothing. Calls to the nanny’s phone have reportedly gone unanswered.The ordeal has weighed heavily on the father. The appeal states that he has barely eaten or slept and has been unable to resume work since the children went missing.
The three children are learners at Faith Cathedral Academy in Kawangware. Zanellah is in Grade 3, while the twins are in Grade 1.
The case underlines the dangers families face when entrusting children to hired carers, particularly when parents work long hours or are away from home.
Child safety experts recommend that parents verify a carer’s background, keep a copy of their identification and share it with a trusted relative or neighbour.
Friends and relatives are urging the public to help trace the children and their nanny.
They hope anyone who has seen Maureen or the children will step forward with details that could help locate them and secure their safe return.
Anyone with useful information is asked to contact the family or the nearest police station as the search continues.