'Dead or alive': IG Kanja, DCI boss Amin summoned over missing Tanzanian activist
Crime and Justice
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Oct 30, 2026
The High Court has ordered Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, DCI Director Amin Mohamed and the Ruai Police Station boss to produce missing Tanzanian activist Twaha Mwaipaya, ‘dead or alive’, following his alleged abduction in Kamulu.
Justice Alexander Muteti on Friday directed the security chiefs Kanja and Amin and the Officer Commanding Ruai Police Station to produce Mwaipaya before the court on Monday, November 2, at 11am.
“The 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents are hereby ordered either by themselves or through their duly appointed officers to produce the person or body Twaha Mwaipaya either alive or dead before this court on November 2, 2023, at 11:00am, together with the original detention warrant and show cause why the subject should not be immediately released from custody,” the judge ordered.
In the orders issued at Milimani High Court, Justice Muteti also summoned Kanja and Amin to appear either personally or through their duly appointed lawyers to explain the circumstances surrounding Mwaipaya’s arrest and detention.
READ MORE
Sh1.2b fund to scale African consumer businesses unveiled
Guard your hustle: One click could cost millions in losses
Construction boom raises fears over poor urban planning
Afreximbank backs buyout of Oryx Energies
Smartphones, TVs lead online shopping as Jumia expands Black Friday campaign
Ruto to Russia: Invest in African factories, not just raw material exports
Konza targets 10,000 jobs as textile production begins
Coffee weekly auction nets Sh1.01 billion
Housing struggles leave vulnerable families without decent homes
Saccos struggle to lend mortgages as loans drop by Sh2.7 billion
The judge further directed them to show cause why the activist should not be released immediately.
The orders followed an urgent habeas corpus application filed by Vocal Africa, through its Chief Executive Officer Hussein Khalid, seeking the court's intervention to establish Mwaipaya’s whereabouts following his mysterious disappearance at the hands of people believed to be police officers.
Vocal Africa had argued that Mwaipaya was abducted on October 25, 2026, at Kamulu, near Kanisani stage, by armed men who allegedly bundled him into a vehicle and drove him to an unknown destination.
According to an affidavit sworn by Khalid, the incident occurred at around 1pm when armed men allegedly intercepted the vehicle in which Mwaipaya was travelling.
The organisation told the court that a friend who was accompanying the activist managed to escape and subsequently recorded a statement detailing the incident.
“If you see a black double cabin pick up trailing you…………RUN!” the application quotes the friend as saying.
Khalid said the activist's whereabouts and state of life remained unknown despite efforts by his family, lawyers and human rights organisations to trace him.
A missing-person report was reportedly lodged at Ruai Police Station under OB number 47/25/10/2026.
The organisation further expressed fears that Mwaipaya could be forcibly transferred to Tanzania, where he allegedly faces the risk of torture and other human rights violations because of his criticism of the government.
Mwaipaya is a Tanzanian human rights defender and youth organiser associated with opposition party CHADEMA.
In addition to seeking his production in court, Vocal Africa had asked the court to issue orders to restrain security agencies from further arresting or detaining him over any criminal offence without the court's permission.
The organisation also sought orders compelling police and IPOA to preserve CCTV footage, vehicle-tracking records, mobile network data and border records that could help establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
The court directed all respondents and interested parties to be served with the application and orders and file their responses, if any, by 9am on Monday.
The matter will be mentioned on November 2 for further directions and orders.