Tracing last steps of four-year-old from Rongai before gruesome murder

“We had spent the better part of the afternoon together when she decided to go play with the other children,” Caroline Nanjela begins.

She is narrating the last time she saw her four-year-old daughter Alice Ayuma, before her body was found dumped in a maize Plantation in Rongai on July 14, 2024.

“Alice was very playful and had made friends with some of the children in our plot. On Saturday July 13, as usual, they were playing just a few metres from the house, outside the gate,” Caroline continues with a heaviness in her voice.

A short while after, it started raining heavily.  Her two sons aged 5 and 2 came back home but Alice did not return.

“Yaani mimi wangu pekee yake ndio hakurudi nyumbani,” says the single mother of three before breaking down.

As minutes passed, Caroline grew worried. With the help of her family members and neighbours, she put together a search party.

The group then marched to Ol Rongai police station to report the incident.

“We were told to wait for 72 hours before reporting. Sikuelewa mbona nafaa ningoje hio muda yote ndio waanze kumtafuta………mtoto wa miaka nne jameni!” Caroline narrates amidst tears.

Having received news of the missing little girl, Caroline’s cousin made a few calls to someone they know, and managed to get help from police but by this time, it was late into the night.

“By Sunday morning, I was hopeless and started fearing for the worst. The hope that she had spent the night at a friend’s place was gone because by 9 am, she would have already turned up.”

The call that followed completely changed Caroline’s world.

“I received a call from my brother. He was repeatedly calling my name and asked me to meet him a few metres from the trading centre. When I arrived, a large crowd of people had formed. There was a police vehicle as well. My mother came to meet me. Her first words were usijali mwenye alifanya hiki kitendo atapatikana. That is when I knew my baby girl is no more,” she breaks down.

According to the autopsy report the cause of death was a blow to the back of the head.

The four-year-old was defiled and had a log lodged in her vagina. Smaller specs of wood were found in her uterine walls that had completely destroyed her womb. Additionally, she suffered from stab wounds on the skull and had rectovaginal fistula.

Caroline Nanjela struggles to put into words the atrocities that her daughter had gone through.

"She was the middle child and was very close to the younger brother. Now as I look at him, he is still young, unable to comprehend the fact that he will never see his best friend ever again," she sobs. 

Caroline parted ways with her husband a while back and relocated to Nakuru from Nairobi together with the children. 

Now a month since Alice was laid to rest on July 19, Caroline’s pain is still fresh as she pleads and hopes that the culprits of the heinous act will be brought to book. 

" Mimi nataka haki ya msichana wangu itendeke." 

According to data provided by the Nakuru County Government Children's Department, from 2022 to 2023 there has been an alarming prevalence of defilement cases, particularly affecting children aged 11 to 18.

Within this period, 68 cases involved children aged 11-15, and 65 cases involved those aged 16-18 have been reported. 

In regard to Alice Ayuma's murder, Rongai sub-county Directorate of Criminal Investigation officer Donnata Otieno says no suspects have been found.

The defilement and murder of Alice was the first of three cases that have been reported in Menengai West Ward, Rongai Sub County in the last month.

The others that followed were of Ms. Mueni Mwalimu, 34, which occurred on August 7 and that of Vera Mugambi, 31, which occurred on August 8. 

On September 21 last year, a similar case to that of Alice was reported in Leleshwa village in Kasambara, Gilgil sub county of Nakuru County following the death of 12-year-old girl Jasmine Njoki Wambugu.

Preliminary reports indicated that the deceased was defiled before being murdered.