Chronicle Editor
Rejoyce Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
A Bulawayo man, Mr Richard Siyeleba Mnkandla (69) from Nketa 6 suburb who went missing last Monday has been found.
He was found at Joel Business Centre in Zhombe, Kwekwe District last Wednesday at around 2PM.
The old man had not taken his dementia and hypertension medication since he went missing but was found in a good state and healthy.
His son, Mr Thabani Mnkandla (33) said they searched for his father at schools, hospitals, police stations, bus ranks and a number of suburbs to no avail.
In the course of searching, they got leads from both the police and community that led to nothing tangible.
The missing man was always saying he wanted to go to his rural home in Zhombe in the Midlands Province, hence family members asked people to be on the lookout for him around there as well as in Kwekwe.
“On Wednesday after lunch, we received information that someone had seen my father dropping off from a private car at Joel Business Centre. We re-grouped with my brothers and shifted our attention to Zhombe. The man who saw my father only had contacts of my sister who stays in Harare, so he called her and she notified us and we immediately started our journey,” said Mr Mnkandla.
He said the distance from the business centre to their homestead in Senkwasi, Zhombe is 15 kilometres and so family members at their rural home went to look for him. They found him and took him home.
“Surprisingly, when I first saw him, he looked well even though he had not taken his medication since Monday, I expected to find him in a bad state. He looked strong, lively and he was quite surprised to see us. He told us that while he was in Bulawayo, there were people that assisted him, gave him food, a place to sleep and also helped him board transport to Zhombe the next morning,” said Mr. Mnkandla.
He said family members are very relieved and happy to be reunited with their father and are grateful for all the efforts made by the police, church members, the community.
Online Reporter