Dennis Lumiti     

A family in Ikolomani, Kakamega county is reeling in anguish following the disappearance of their first-born child, six months ago.

An altercation between the 16-year-old Margaretta Baliseneka and her mother saw her walk out of their home on July 22, last year and she has never been seen or heard from since.

The Form Three student at Kenya High School did not seem to have any plans to disappear.

Her parents thought she had gone to while away time with her friends in the neighbourhood.  

The family said Margaretta had never shown any signs of truancy and that she is disciplined, dedicated in whatever she does and a bright student who claimed a top position in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2017.

“Margaretta is my first-born with an only sister in Class Five. In 2017, she was the top student in Ikolomani with 426 marks and had continued that trajectory at Kenya High where she has expressed interest to pursue Medicine if she qualifies to join the university,” said her distraught father, Albert Baliseneka.

Speaking to the People Daily at their home at Malinya village, the parents said they had been to lengths and breadths of the country in search of their daughter in vain.

Baliseneka said his daughter was focused and highly disciplined and that he still wonders what really transpired on that fateful Wednesday.

The family reported the matter to Malinya Police Station and a search was mounted but has never yielded fruit. 

Her mother, Nancy Manogo, said she only reprimanded her and that she never knew that would lead to her disappearance.

“Please come back home even if you eloped with a man or you are expectant. Help us bring this anguish to an end,” Margaretta’s family pleaded with her.