Agony over missing worker after Ruiru workshop inferno

A family from Murang’a is in agony after their kin went missing in December last year.

Joseph Muhia disappeared shortly after a fire broke out at Modern Furniture Pacific workshop in Ruiru, where he worked, on December 18 last year.

Despite an extensive search, there has been no trace of his whereabouts.

The 32-year-old Muhia, a carpenter and father of two, was last seen before the fire that destroyed property worth millions of shillings.

His family is now calling for an inquiry into his disappearance, with growing concerns that he may have perished in the inferno.

Gibson Murage, the owner of the company, has insisted that no human remains were discovered at the site, only a partially charred carcass of a dog.

According to Murage, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Forensics department examined the carcass before it was disposed of.

However, the family believes that Muhia, who preferred working late nights and often stayed at the workshop, may have died in the fire.

Muhia, from Ngirima village in Kandara, Murang’a County, had been employed by Modern Furniture Pacific for nearly two years.

His wife, Racheal Wangui, said Muhia had been with the company since its early days in Nyeri, and had moved with Murage to Kiambu.

She said she spoke with the husband on the phone the evening before the fire. Muhia reportedly told her he would be working that night.

Relatives claim that multiple people said their kin did not escape the fire, a lead they hope the authorities will investigate.

“We don’t believe the dog story,” said Wilson Mburu, Muhia’s uncle.

The family has been searching hospitals, prisons, and mortuaries across Nairobi, Kiambu, and Murang’a counties but have come out empty-handed.

“We reached out to morticians through their WhatsApp group, and although they were incredibly helpful, no unidentified body matched our relative,” Mburu explained.

Muhia was the eldest of seven children, and his mother, Esther Wambui, has been distressed by the situation.

“I can’t bear the thought that he might have died in that fire. He communicated with his wife regularly, and nearly every weekend he came home,” Wambui said.