Family of missing doctor travel to Kenya for DNA test

Family members of a missing Ugandan doctor, Gideon Wamasebu Simiyu, have travelled to Kenya with a team of doctors to conduct a DNA test as part of efforts to establish his whereabouts.

The family sources this newspaper spoke to said they were not at liberty to share details until they carry out tests of the body of a man who was kidnapped, murdered, and buried in Mulava Constituency, Kakamega County near the Kenyan border with Uganda.

Dr Wamesabu, a father of three and devout Catholic, retired from public service two years ago and had been into private practice.            

Reports indicate that Dr Wamasebu, who formerly served as District Health Officer of Manafwa, travelled from his home in Mbale on February 6 for a meeting in Kenya in accompany of a pastor, but he was reportedly killed and buried in Kimanget Village in Malava Constituency under unclear circumstances.

One of the close relatives told Daily Monitor yesterday that the team travelled with one of the daughters of Dr Wamasebu to witness the exhumation of the body and thereafter conduct a DNA test.

“They have stopped us from talking to journalists, but it’s true they have moved to Kenya with one of our uncle’s daughters to exhume the body and take blood samples,” the relative, who preferred anonymity, said.

Ms Pauline Tsekooko Wamasebu, the sister to Dr Wamasebu, said they had not been able to communicate with their brother since he left the country.       

Cross-border investigation

She said Kenya and Uganda security were trying to trace his movement.
“We are waiting. We have no information regarding his death. We are waiting for investigations to be concluded,” she said.

According to the family statement, which was issued yesterday, Dr Wamasebu left home for a workshop in Kenya.

“On that night, he did not call back to say he had reached, but the niece who keeps the home got WhatsApp messages stating that he urgently needs some money up to a total of KShs10 million,” the statement read in part.

The statement further said despite the arrest of people who took over Dr Wamasebu’s phone and kept demanding money, Dr Wamasebu has not yet been located.

The statement adds that two impostors were in his company, one of them purported to be a pastor and another a Bishop from Kakamega.

“Despite getting these people who took over his phone and kept communicating on WhatsApp, Dr Wamasebu has not yet been located,” the statement further reads.                                                              

The Elgon police spokesperson, Mr Rogers Taitika, said he was yet to get details on the missing doctor.