Tell us where our son is, family tells Tanzanian police

The family of a 28-year-old man who went missing after crossing into Tanzania on December 24 now wants President John Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and have their son returned home.

Mr Khamis Zuma, a resident of Kinango sent a text message to his father that he had crossed without any problems on the Kenyan border at Lunga Lunga but was arrested by police officers based at the Duga Police Station on the Tanzanian side.

On Sunday, the family addressed journalists at Haki Africa offices where they called on the two governments to jointly work together to have their son return home safely.

“Since I received that text from my son, I have never had any sleep. I am diabetic and my situation is not good at the moment. So does his wife who is pregnant. We don’t know what he is going through at the moment,” said Mr Mohamed Ngome, the victim’s father.

Trouble, he said, started on the eve of Christmas Day when Mr Zuma, bid his family farewell at their Kinango home as he headed to Tanzania to look for a job.

The family said Mr Zuma routinely goes to Tanzania to buy clothes for sale in Kenya.

Mr Ngome said even after introducing himself at the police station, the officers manning the station denied reports of the arrest and directed him back to Horo Horo Police Station.

“At Horo Horo Police Station I introduced myself and after explaining my case, a police officer directed me to a nearby [Kenyan] migration office,” he said.

Determined to see his son, Mzee Ngome I explained my case to a police officer at Horohoro police station who in turn directed him to a Kenyan migration office at.

Mr Ngome said he has been directed back and forth the border.