Mother turns to DNA test in search for KDF son missing for 19 years

Joysephine Wangari Njuguna held on to hope, praying to the gods to keep her son safe and that she would one day find him alive.

That hope slowly faded as she and her late husband, Elijah Njuguna George, went from one police station to another, then to hospitals and finally to morgues in search of their son Charles Njuguna. 

Eventually, they gave up, concluding that the former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer they last saw in 2006 had died.

Wangari’s husband died at the age of 86. For him, the hope of ever seeing Njuguna alive ended when he took his last breath on February 28, 2024.

But his widow has revived the search for their son. In December 2022, a local television station aired a story about a man who had been taken to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) reopening the silent void of the past.That moment marked a new chapter for Wangari, who now leans on her motherly instincts and clings to the small but real possibility that the gods may have heard her prayers.

Wangari is now in court seeking permission to take a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test to confirm whether the man is indeed her son.

Court documents show that Njuguna served with the armed forces based at Laikipia Airbase in Nanyuki. His service number was 104799.

His mother recalls that the last time he was seen was at a joint outside the barracks, where he had gone to party with friends.

This was in July.

“I am informed, and verily believe it to be true, that in July 2006, the respondent went for a drink outside the barracks with his friends, but never returned. The respondent was presumed dead by the armed forces due to his failure to return to work,” Wangari’s court papers read in part.

After all efforts to find Njuguna alive were exhausted, KDF paid his father Sh574,411 as gratuity.

According to the court documents, Njuguna’s trail goes silent for seven years, from the moment he was last seen to when he resurfaced on a hospital bed at Kenyatta National Hospital. He was brought to the hospital on June 19, 2013, by a good Samaritan as an unidentified patient. After another seven years without anyone claiming him, the government-owned hospital handed him over to Mercy Servants of the Poor Foundation.

The shelter founded by Catholic nun Mary Musembi, has become a haven for dozens of abandoned and homeless patients.After watching the television story of the unidentified man, Wangari rushed to KNH, pleading to see him up close, unable to believe what she had heard and seen.

She was eventually directed to the shelter.

“This is to formally introduce you to the management of Mercy Servants of the Poor Foundation, Kithyoko, where an unidentified male patient was placed from Kenyatta National Hospital on August 5, 2020. The patient had been admitted to the hospital on June 19, 2013…The hospital has made arrangements for you to visit the foundation to view and ascertain whether the patient is indeed your relative,” reads a letter to her from KNH’s head of medical social work, Ketwon Kandie. This was in September this year.

The letter became her entry point to a man she believed could be her long lost son. With it in hand, she gathered courage and travelled to Kithyoko. There, as she explains, in her court filings, she looked closely at him and saw her son’s familiar features. Her hand touched his, searching for the warmth only a month knows. Their hearts, she says, seemed to beat in quiet rhythm. She is convinced he is the one.

Wangari wished she could take Njuguna home the very day she saw him, convinced her prayers had finally been answered. But one hurdle stood in the way. She says he had sustained injuries that affected his hearing and speech, making communication impossible. The only way to clear any lingering doubt, she realised, was through science. The shelter agreed to support the process.

She tells the court that when she returned to the national referral hospital ready for a DNA test, she was informed that she needed a court order before anything could proceed.

Wangari longs to be with her ‘son’ as soon as possible, to tell him the long story of her search and to rekindle the memories of his late father. Their journey now feels like a ship navigating through a thick fog. She has glimpsed what looks like her son, but until the mist lifts, she cannot guide him safely home.

She hopes the scientific confirmation will finally bring an end to her years of mourning.

“The respondent has been denied his constitutional right to be with his family for far too long. The court should direct the doctor in charge of Kenyatta National Hospital to carry out the DNA test between the respondent and me,” she pleads.

Wangari says she is ready and willing to care for him at home.