The reported disappearance of more than 80 government critics in the past six months has caused a huge public backlash in Kenya.
A judge has warned that he will hold top security officials for contempt of court on Monday if they do not appear a third time to explain a recent series of alleged kidnappings.
The case is linked to disappearances documented by Kenya's National Commission for Human Rights since nationwide protests against proposed tax increases began in June.
It is said that at least 24 are still missing.
Police and the government deny kidnapping and illegally detaining protesters, but the country has a history of state-sponsored kidnappings, and some Kenyans fear they are returning to that dark past.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Directorate of Criminal Investigation director Mohamed Amin were ordered to produce seven court influencers who disappeared in December.
Five suddenly appeared in early January in various locations across the country.
Mr Kanja's lawyers asked the court for more time to record statements from them and submit a report.
“The boy didn't share much…he seemed to be in shock” “, Source: Gerald Mwangi Karicha, Source Description: Billy Mwangi's father, Image: Gerald Mwangi Karicha
Billy Mwangi is one of the five. The 24-year-old was dropped off by his alleged captors 75km from his hometown in Embu, central Kenya, in an apparent act of intimidation.
Billy's father, Gerald Mwangi Karicha, told the BBC that his son was traumatized.
“The boy didn't share much,” he said. “All I can say is that when he came, he wasn't his usual self. He seemed to be in shock.”
Billy, a student who had been a vocal critic of the government on social media, disappeared on December 21, 2024 while at a barbershop in Embu.
According to witnesses, hooded men arrived in a Toyota fielder and a crew cab pickup, bundled him into one of the vehicles and left.
Within hours, his family's worst fears began to unfold.
“Most weekends we watch football together. His club is Chelsea; mine is Arsenal,” Gerald said.
He called Billy to discuss a football match the night of his disappearance, only for his son's phone to be switched off.
The barber shop owner later informed him about the kidnapping, sparking a frantic search.
Billy's mother broke down when she heard the news and the weeks that followed were painful for the family.
As soon as he was found, Billy was taken to hospital for a routine check-up. His family says he is still recovering from the trauma, but his release has brought them a measure of relief.
Like many who have reemerged after alleged kidnappings, Billy has said little about his ordeal, perhaps out of fear.
The Longton brothers – Aslam (L) and Jamil (R) – were held for 32 days. Aslam told the BBC that he was regularly beaten by his captors [BBC]
Jamil and Aslam Longton also remained quiet after being released from 32 days in captivity in September.
The brothers were warned, Jamil says, that they would be killed if they went to the media.
Three months later, a government official publicly referred to their case as a lawful arrest.
The siblings took this as confirmation that a government agency was responsible for what he had experienced and found the courage to speak out.
“Kenya's constitution is very clear,” says Jamil. “You must be arrested and brought to justice within 24 hours. Ours was 32 days. We never got a lawyer to represent us anywhere.
“We were not allowed to see our family or communicate with our family. So this is not an arrest, this is a kidnapping.”
The brothers told the BBC that Aslam had helped organize protests against tax increases in the town of Kitengela near the capital Nairobi and had been warned by security officers to stop his activism.
One day in August, the two were pulled into a car at their home, hooded and handcuffed, and taken to an unknown location where they were held in small dark cells.
Aslam says he was regularly beaten, his torment demands to know who financed the protests.
“I was very scared,” he says. “When the door was opened, the guy would come with a fiber optic cable and a metal rod.
“I was afraid he had come to beat me or kill me – there were only two options to beat me or kill me.”
Jamil describes their captors as heavily armed, able to track their mobile phones and confident enough to capture them in broad daylight, with a level of resources and degree of flexibility that human rights groups have reported in many cases.
!["[President Ruto] has not punished any form of kidnapping because he is a man who believes in the rule of law""Source: Isaac Mwaura, Source Description: Spokesperson for the Kenyan government, Image: Isaac Mwaura](http://cbnewz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737683728_231_Kidnappings-spark-fears-of-a-return-to-Kenya39s-dark-past.png)
“[President Ruto] has not punished any form of kidnapping because he is a man who believes in the rule of law “”, Source: Isaac Mwaura, Source Description: Kenyan government spokesperson, Image: Isaac Mwaura
But this does not mean they are official security workers, says spokesman Isaac Mwaura, denying that the state is behind kidnappings.
“Organized security can also be part of organized crime,” he told the BBC.
“It could also be for political reasons… our political opponents have really pushed this issue. They're basically running with it to settle political scores.”
Mr Mwaura refused to comment on the case of Government Minister Justin Muturi, one of the most damning indictments of Kenya's security agencies.
Muturi says his son was picked up by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and released only after he directly appealed to President William Ruto.
“That is a matter of investigation because that is his side of the story,” Mr Mwaura said. “But what is a National Intelligence Service counter-narrative?
“I would like to say categorically that the President of the Republic of Kenya, who is the head of government, has not sanctioned any form of kidnapping because he is a man who believes in the rule of law.”
In fact, Ruto has publicly pledged to stop the kidnappings, forced to respond to public outrage and worried about Western allies.
Many are saddened that the apparent systematic disappearance of anti-government activists has surfaced in this way, recalling similar methods under the authoritarian leadership of Daniel arap Moi in the 1980s and 1990s.
Public anger grows over the kidnapping of government critics [Reuters]
Gitobu Imanyara, a journalist and activist who campaigned for multiparty politics in the early 1990s, was arrested and beaten by Moi's regime. He has no doubt that he is now seeing the “Moi Playbook” in action.
But, he says, times have changed. Constitutional amendments have established more mechanisms of accountability and “there is a larger segment of Kenyan society that will not be intimidated”.
“The democratic space has expanded so much that the government cannot wish for the democratic voices of dissent,” he told the BBC.
Plus with social media, “the word spreads almost immediately,” he said.
“We can't be censored like we used to be censored in those days when we could only use landlines.”
“We are so depressed, so devastated…we are praying that he will be found”, Source: Stacey Mutua, Source Description: Sister of Steve Mbisi, who disappeared in December, Image: Stacey Mutua
Reports of disappearances have fallen off in recent weeks.
But despite the announcement of police investigations, no one has been charged, let alone convicted, for carrying them out.
Several interest groups have petitioned the Attorney General requesting that kidnapping cases be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As for the families of those still missing, the nightmare continues.
“We are so depressed, so devastated,” said Stacey Mutua, the sister of Steve Mbisi, one of the seven who disappeared in December.
“We hope they will release him. [Most] of the abductee were released, but he is still missing. We pray that he will be found. “
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[Getty Images/BBC]
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