Manafa DHO still missing as kidnappers demand Shs 290m ransom 

Former Manafwa district health officer (DHO) Dr Gideon Wamasebu is still missing a week after his disappearance on February 6.

According to available information, Wamasebu left his home in Mbale on February 6, 2023, in the company of his niece for a workshop in Kenya. Wamasebu didn’t call back, as usual, to inform his family whether or not he had reached his destination.

Dr John Baptist Wanyaiye, commissioner of emergency and rescue services in the ministry of Health and a friend of the family, says Wamasebu’s niece, also a caretaker of the home got WhatsApp messages stating that he’s in urgent need of up to Kshs 10 million (about Shs 292 million). 

“The following day, [WhatsApp] messages changed to demanding that he sells his possessions to save his life. He stated in WhatsApp that; ‘I have sent my friend (pastor) to pick my land titles, sell off the car, and sell off the houses and farm to save my life’, said Wanyaiye. 

According to Wanyaiye, the family immediately engaged the police who arrested some goons suspected to have kidnapped Wamesebu for ransom. The family with the help of police managed to trap one of these kidnappers who had picked up his vehicle from Mbale and arrested him. The suspect then led them to another person in Busia in Uganda, who, family members say is known to them and claims to be a pastor. 

Wanyaiye says the suspects are in fact brothers – with one purporting to be a pastor and another a bishop from Kakamega. He, however, explains that despite picking the two suspects, Wamasebu’s whereabouts are yet to be established. The ‘bishop’ who claimed to know where Wamasebu is has since opted to keep mum after being arrested.

Wanyaiye explained that investigations are ongoing to establish whether or not Dr Wamasebu is still alive. Rogers Taitika, the Elgon region police spokesperson told URN that he is yet to get information on the matter. According to the Nairobi Times, Kenya police have since discovered a shallow grave in Kabras in Kakamega where Wamasebu’s body is suspected to have been buried. 

Nairobi Times notes that one of the suspects led police to the shallow grave. Kenya police followed blood stains to a river bank where the shallow grave was dug. Police have since sealed off the area pending a court order to exhume the grave.