A family in Katheri Village, Meru County, is enduring an agonizing wait as their kin remains missing nearly two weeks after he disappeared on Mount Kenya.
Samwel Macharia, a 35-year-old veteran mountain guide, vanished without a trace while leading two Japanese tourists on a climbing expedition via the Sirimon route.
The mysterious disappearance has left his relatives, colleagues, friends, and rescue teams baffled as searches continue to yield no results.
Macharia had been working as a porter with his brother during the expedition when he suddenly disappeared.
His personal belongings were later recovered along the trail, deepening the mystery surrounding his whereabouts.
"We were together, and suddenly he disappeared. I have tried to look for him on this mountain for about three trips but I still haven't seen him," his brother revealed.
The brother immediately alerted authorities after reaching camp and realizing Macharia was not part of the team.
A relative explained the puzzling nature of the disappearance, noting that climbers don't typically leave someone behind without notice.
"We can't say how he disappeared because when we climb a mountain, you can just leave someone behind, but when people were arriving at the camp, Macharia was not part of the entire team," the relative stated.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has launched an investigation into the incident. However, they clarified that Macharia was not part of their personnel.
Duncan Wanyama, KWS Communication Officer, explained that the service collaborates extensively with local community guides to show tourists around areas where natural habitats and wildlife coexist with humans.
"These community guides are trained and vetted to ensure they meet our safety standards while providing authentic local experiences to visitors," Wanyama noted.
When a guide or ranger disappears in Kenya, an immediate and coordinated search and rescue operation is launched involving KWS, police, the DCI, and sometimes private entities and local volunteers.
The disappearance further contributes to a rising trend of worrying cases involving guides and rangers in Kenya’s protected areas.
In 2020, a tour guide named Joseph Mwangi and three university students went missing in the Aberdare Forest during a hiking excursion. They were found alive but exhausted shortly after the search operation was launched.
In August 2021, KWS sought information on senior ranger Francis Isaac Awuor Oyaro, an assistant warden who disappeared while on leave from Marsabit National Park. He was last seen after alighting from a KWS van in Nanyuki to travel home to Nakuru.
