Missing Machakos MCA resurfaces, says he is safe

The Machakos MCA who had earlier been reported missing has resurfaced alive and sound.

Muthwani ward’s county legislator Dominic Maitha re-appeared on Wednesday evening, close to 24 hours after he was reported missing by his family members at the Machakos police station.

Maitha, on Thursday, told the Star that he was safe and sound. He denied claims that he had been abducted.

“Yes, I’m safe and okay. I wasn’t abducted but chased by people on motorbikes,” Maitha told the Star by phone on Thursday morning.

The Star reached out to the MCA after realizing his mobile phones, which were initially off when his missing report was made to the police station, had been switched on.

The MCA said he had turned his mobile phones to flight mode and went into hiding after escaping people he claimed were hired goons trailing him on two motorbikes from Machakos town.

The county legislator said three hooded men trailed him on two motorbikes from a hotel within Machakos Township, prompting him to seek refuge at another hotel in the outskirts of the town before driving to his hideout in Athi River for what he termed as his safety.

“I was leaving a hotel in Machakos town when I spotted a man standing near the wall while wearing a black hood covering his head. I saw him since my car’s head lamps lit where he was. I became anxious. The guy whistled, saying, ‘he is here, ’” he said.

“I switched on full lights immediately and saw two motorbikes, one was parked facing the exit towards the Kathwanze – Kangundo road direction while the other was on the opposite side of the road with a rider and pillion passenger.”

Maitha added that he sensed danger after the guy signaled his peers that he had been seen.

“The first thing I did was to put my phone on flight mode since I didn’t know who the people were. Nowadays, you can’t trust whether they are police officers or hired goons. I drove towards the Golf Club and took the u–turn at Kobil petrol station driving towards the Nairobi general direction,” he said.

He said he saw the motorbikes trailing him on the road and decided to drive to a nearby hotel to assess the situation.

Maitha said he later drove to a hotel in Athi River, where he checked in at around 1.00 am on Monday.

“I got to the hotel at 1:00 am, parked my car at the far end, booked a room, and slept there. My phones have been off since that evening. I was careful about my safety and didn’t think of contacting my wife or other family members. I was worried about what I saw,” Maitha said.

He said he slept until 11.00 am on Wednesday when he was woken up by hotel attendants.