During his speech in Nakuru County on Wednesday, March 19, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was briefly interrupted when a determined woman, later identified as Brian Odhiambo's mother, walked up to the dais.
Wearing a black T-shirt with the words "Justice for my son," her approach elicited audible reactions from the crowd. Murkomen’s security team attempted to stop her, but he waved them away and invited her to speak.
She whispered her grievances to the CS, who expressed sympathy for her situation and encouraged her to stay for his speech, during which he would address her concerns.
After finishing his speech, Murkomen confirmed that the woman was the mother of Brian Odhiambo, the fisherman who has been missing for months since he was reportedly arrested by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers in Lake Nakuru on January 18.
He then assured her that investigations by the National Police Service (NPS) were ongoing and nearing completion, emphasising that those found responsible would face the full force of the law.
"All the officers that were involved will be taken to court and lose their jobs. There are other Kenyans who disappeared like Brian. It was Brian's mother who just spoke to me. I want to tell you that I am in solidarity with you, and we will do everything possible to hold those KWS officers who arrested your son to account until they tell us where Brian is," Murkomen promised.
"This is a message directly from the government. Brian did not wrong us in any way that he could just disappear. Even if he had wronged us, he was supposed to be arrested, taken to the police station, and charged in court. As your Interior CS, we will not tolerate situations where any Kenyan can just disappear without being accounted for."
He further promised to issue an official statement on Brian's disappearance within a week, provided the investigations were concluded by then.
Murkomen added that the investigations had uncovered a criminal syndicate protected by KWS officers and suggested that Brian's capture might be linked to it.
"We have seen that a few KWS officers are involved in the illegal business of controlling fish sales at Lake Nakuru. When they see other citizens coming to fish in the lake, they beat them because they are not part of their network," Murkomen stated.
"A determination has been made that the fish in Lake Nakuru is not safe for human consumption. Their job was to prevent Kenyans from fishing in the lake, but instead, they have chosen to protect illegal businesses."
Since his disappearance in January, Brian's case has been riddled with twists and turns including an arrest of officers suspected to have been involved in his illegal arrest. However, the case against the officers was dismissed at the Nakuru Law Courts on February 6 after the officer who had reportedly arrested him claimed that he escaped while in custody.
A body suspected to be his was also recovered from the lake but was later confirmed not to have been him.
Just a few days ago, his mother, wife and brother were detained for a few hours outside the KWS gates at Lake Nakuru where they were seeking answers on his disappearance.
