City businessman ‘was in a rush to finish some work before he went missing’

An agitated man who was in a rush to finish some work in his office, as he picked up his children from school on the day he went missing, is what a brother to flamboyant Nairobi- based businessman Dafton Mwitiki, who went missing on March 11, told the Nation Tuesday.

Mr Mwitiki’s car was recovered last Thursday by police from Juja after it was found abandoned near a coffee farm.

Mr Victor Mwitiki, an elder brother of the missing trader, Tuesday narrated to the Nation how his brother had a busy day on Wednesday before he went missing in the evening.

“Based on the brief I have received from his wife, Dafton had a busy day on Wednesday last week before he went missing.

"First he was agitated after being delayed at a school where he had gone to pick up his two children. Secondly, he was agitated because he was under a strict deadline in a certain business deal that he had not delivered on and it was like he was under pressure,” said Victor.

He described his younger brother as a shrewd businessman who co-owns a restaurant in Nairobi together with a Chinese national. He also owns a tours and travel firm.

“Dafton owns a restaurant together with a Chinese national in Galana Plaza in Kilimani. He also owns a tour and travel company known as Beyond the World that has been doing very well since it was established some years back,” said Victor.

Mr Mwitiki’s brother told the Nation that his brother was and has always been very cautious about people he hangs out with, for safety reasons.

But he has never mentioned to him at any one time that his life was in danger.

Detectives investigating the matter have so far established that the trader’s mobile phone was switched off in Roysambu along the Thika Superhighway at around 11:46pm on March 11 — the day he went missing.

“No arrests have been made so far but we are going to summon people he was in contact with last,” one of the detectives investigating the matter told the Nation in confidence.

The family is expecting to get further briefings from the investigators Wednesday.

“We have held discussions with the Juja detectives handling the matter and they have promised to come back to us Wednesday (today) to update us on the progress of their investigations,” said Victor.