After nearly two decades of agonising uncertainty, the family of John Oluoch Wasamba has received a measure of legal closure. On 30 April 2025, the High Court in Nairobi officially declared Wasamba, a Kenyan professional who disappeared without a trace in neighbouring Tanzania in 2006, presumed dead.
Justice Mutuku, presiding over the matter, described the disappearance as “strange” and “deeply troubling”, particularly in an age where technology has revolutionised the ability to trace people. “It is strange that in this day and age, a person can disappear without a trace,” she observed.
Wasamba was employed by TechnoServe, a company headquartered in Arusha with offices in Dar es Salaam and Kigali, Rwanda. Known for his reliability and family commitment, he regularly travelled back to Kenya to spend the Christmas holidays with loved ones. However, in December 2006, he failed to make the annual journey home.
Concerned, his family, led by his brother Julius Ochieng, began contacting friends and colleagues, all of whom were equally baffled. In January 2007, Julius travelled to Arusha and visited TechnoServe’s offices, where he learnt that his brother had last been seen in early December when he began his annual leave.
The company reported his disappearance to Arusha Police Station under reference number AR/RB/453/2007. Julius later filed a second report in 2008 (AR/RB/453/2008), yet despite the family’s relentless efforts, including extensive searches and follow-ups, Wasamba’s whereabouts have remained unknown to this day.
In his affidavit, Julius noted that the family had exhausted every possible avenue to find John, and after 19 painful years with no contact or credible sightings, they were forced to accept the likely reality of his death.
The court relied on Section 118A of Kenya’s Evidence Act, which provides that if a person has not been heard from in seven years by those who would typically have expected to hear from them, they may be presumed dead, albeit with a rebuttable presumption that could be overturned should new evidence emerge.
“I am satisfied that there is ample evidence to demonstrate that it is safe for this court to presume the death of John Oluoch Wasamba,” ruled Justice Mutuku.
The court issued the following orders:
• That John Oluoch Wasamba is hereby presumed dead;
• That the Registrar of Births and Deaths is directed to record his death in the official register;
• That a death certificate be issued in his name.
Though the ruling brings formal closure to a prolonged ordeal, the emotional wounds and unresolved mystery of John’s disappearance, marked by silence and shadows, linger for his family. As it stands, what remains is a legal declaration and a family’s enduring hope for answers that may never come.
