By KPC Reporter
A Nyamira family has appealed for government help to trace a missing relative linked to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The former secondary school bursar reportedly disappeared after being recruited into the Russian military and deployed to the conflict.
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The family of Tom Nyakamba Onyancha, a resident of Bosiango Village in West Mugirango Constituency, says it has not heard from him since November 2025 and fears he may have been killed, injured, detained or captured during the conflict.
In a letter addressed to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Onyancha’s wife, Zipporah Nyamoita Barake, requested urgent government intervention to establish his whereabouts.
According to relatives, Onyancha had previously worked as a bursar at a local secondary school in Nyamira.
However, after losing his job, he left the county in search of alternative opportunities abroad, hoping to secure a better future for his family.
That search, the family says, ultimately led him into the heart of one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.
“According to information available to the family, the missing person was recruited by agents who promised employment opportunities in the United Kingdom,” the letter states.
The family says Onyancha and several other young Kenyans travelled through the Moyale border into Ethiopia before proceeding to Russia after being issued with Russian visas.
“While in Russia, he is believed to have been recruited into the Russian military and subsequently deployed to the conflict in Ukraine,” the letter adds.
According to the family, information later emerged that Onyancha had been injured during military operations and admitted to hospital. After treatment, he was reportedly redeployed to the battlefield.
“Since then, all communication has ceased, and his whereabouts remain unknown,” the letter says.
The family fears that he may have been killed in action, injured and unable to communicate, detained, or captured as a prisoner of war.
They have urged the Kenyan government, through its diplomatic missions and relevant international agencies, to determine whether Onyancha is alive, hospitalised, detained or deceased, and to help obtain any official records relating to his status.
The case sheds light on the growing desperation among unemployed Kenyan youth seeking opportunities abroad amid economic hardship.
In recent years, authorities have repeatedly warned Kenyans against falling victim to dubious recruitment schemes that promise lucrative jobs overseas but fail to disclose the true nature of the work involved.
The Russia-Ukraine war has seen reports of foreign nationals from Africa, Asia and Latin America being recruited into military service through various channels, often after travelling abroad in search of employment.
“We shall highly appreciate your urgent intervention in this matter,” Barake wrote in her appeal to the government.
