Nanyuki: A family in Nanyuki, Laikipia county is calling for government intervention in finding their kin who disappeared in Mt. Kenya 14 days ago while on a climbing mission. Samuel Macharia, a 35-year-old mountain guide, disappeared on December 23rd, 2025. He was in the company of four other guides who accompanied two Japanese tourists in a Mt. Kenya climbing expedition.
According to Kenya News Agency, his elder brother Daniel Kagwaini, who was part of the group, said they departed from Nanyuki town in the morning via the Sirimon route and arrived at Shipton's camp at about 2 pm after a seven-hour trek. This is where they realized Macharia, who was assigned the role of carrying foodstuffs, was missing. Kagwaini mentioned that his brother is a veteran mountain guide with over 15 years of experience in navigating the terrain of Mt. Kenya, guiding visitors, and that even on that day, his brother showed no sign of illness or unusual behavior.
'I have worked with my brother for years and we can't really tell what happened; he vanished under my watch. I retraced our steps and found nothing. I have done frantic searches more than three times with no sign of him,' said his brother, who is also a mountain guide. He highlighted that what has puzzled the family is that, during the search, they recovered some personal items believed to belong to Macharia, including a National Identity card and phone, alongside the foodstuffs he was carrying, neatly placed on the footpath.
The incident has been reported to the Chogoria and Timau police stations with the hope of finding his youngest brother alive. On Tuesday, January 5, his Aunt Lucy Kagwaini and other family members were seen sitting beside a signpost at Old Moses Camp, which is inscribed with an altitude of 3300 ft above sea level, staring at the mountain peaks, anxious for answers, and hoping for a miracle or closure in this mystery.
'He is just somewhere; I just don't know if it's in the forest or this Mountain, we have done our best but we haven't seen him. We just plead with the government for help; this is my nephew and we don't have any other way out,' said Lucy Kagwaini, trying to hold back her tears.
The family hopes their kin might have wandered through the dense forests of Mt. Kenya and he will be found alive in the outlying villages, believing he might have suffered from Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), a condition that causes severe confusion and hallucinations. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has since launched an investigation aimed at finding the seasoned mountaineer. Mt. Kenya has experienced incidents of disappearances for hikers and loss of lives; however, the case of Macharia, with over a decade of experience navigating through the terrains of the mountain, has left his friends and family disoriented.
Source: Kenya News Agency