Be the judge: While PS Omollo denies abductions, families are searching for missing kin

Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo stood before the cameras on Tuesday and declared that Kenya had moved beyond the era of abductions.

“I am actually struggling to understand the concern because when you say there is a re-emergence of abductions, I can clearly state that that only happened in the previous regime, not under President Ruto’s administration,” Omollo said.

“The abduction culture is long gone,” he added. “We had that challenge in the last administration, where people were being abducted while others were being found in rivers. Since we took over government, President William Ruto has been clear that there will be nothing like that.”

According to Omollo, reports of abductions were creating unnecessary public anxiety and were intended to portray the administration negatively. He argued that anyone making such claims should provide credible evidence, including the identities of the alleged perpetrators, to enable authorities to investigate and take appropriate action.

The Principal Secretary also dismissed some of the reported cases as “purported abductions”, claiming that certain individuals had staged their own disappearances by hiding in their homes or voluntarily admitting themselves to hospital before later resurfacing.

His remarks, however, stand in sharp contrast to documented reports by human rights organisations, testimonies from victims and the accounts of families still searching for missing loved ones.

The disappearances of Maxwell Kiarie and Abdulaziz “Zizou” Molu have sparked a fresh wave of protests in Nairobi’s Mathare and Huruma estates, intensifying concerns over alleged enforced disappearances in the country. Kiarie was last seen on June 20, while Molu was reportedly picked up on June 23 under circumstances that remain unclear. Security agencies have yet to confirm their whereabouts.

Protests that have been ongoing have so far seen a bystander shot dead, property destroyed and roads barricaded as protesters demand answers on their disappearances from police.

Mathare-based activist Davis Lichuma, who was found barely alive on Ngong Road in Nairobi, was arrested during the Gen Z anniversary demonstrations. He was allegedly held incommunicado, tortured and later dumped outside Kenyatta National Hospital in critical condition.

Official records also paint a markedly different picture.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), in its annual report covering the period between December 2024 and December 2025, documented 661 complaints involving violations of the right to freedom and security of the person. The complaints included arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, abductions and enforced disappearances.

“Fifteen cases of abductions were reported during the review period, signalling a worrying resurgence of tactics that have no place in a constitutional democracy,” KNCHR chairperson Claris Ogangah said during the launch of the report.

The commission also documented 57 killings during the same period.

“These deaths represent a grave breach of the Constitution, which guarantees every person’s right to life,” Ogangah said. “These are not mere statistics, but human lives cut short, often by those sworn to protect them.”

The Missing Voices Coalition likewise reported a disturbing rise in alleged human rights abuses.

According to its 2024 report, the coalition documented 159 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Of these, 104 were police-related killings, while 55 were enforced disappearances.

The report found that enforced disappearances had increased by 450 per cent, rising from 10 cases in 2023 to 55 in 2024—the highest number ever recorded by the coalition. Before then, the highest annual figure had been 38 cases in 2019.

December 2024 marked one of the darkest periods in recent Kenyan history, with seven reported abductions in a single month.

Among those abducted was political cartoonist Gideon Kibet, popularly known as Kibet Bull, whose satirical illustrations of President William Ruto had earned him national attention.

He disappeared on Christmas Day after meeting Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah in Nairobi. His brother, Ronny Kiplangat, was also abducted.

Kibet Bull was released on January 6, 2025. Speaking after his release, he declined to discuss details of his 12-day ordeal, saying only: “The kidnapping is real; I can confirm this. I urge the government to respect freedom of expression.”

Steve Kavingo Mbisi was abducted on December 17 in Machakos, followed by Billy Wanyiri Mwangi and Peter Muteti, who were both seized on December 21 in Embu and Uthiru respectively. A day later, Bernard Kavuli was abducted in Ngong.

The disappearances prompted Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah to file a habeas corpus petition seeking to compel the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Prosecutions to produce the missing men before the court.

One of the most chilling cases emerged from Mlolongo, where four men — Justus Musyimi, Martin Mwau and two others — were abducted in December 2024. On January 30, 2025, two bodies recovered from the Nairobi Funeral Home, formerly City Mortuary, were positively identified as those of Musyimi and Mwau.

Musyimi’s brother, Duncan Kyalo, recalled the anguish of identifying his sibling’s body. “My brother’s body had deep cuts, broken wrists and had been tightly bound.”

Kyalo said he also received threatening phone calls warning him against speaking publicly about his brother’s disappearance.

“I received a call. A police officer told me my brother was in Lamu and warned me not to speak about it, or my brother would end up in the morgue. My brother was never released,” he recounted.

Another harrowing account came from brothers Jamil and Nadhim Longton of Kitengela, who survived what they described as 32 days of torture after they were abducted.

They said they were thrown into a dark room, stripped naked and handcuffed to the floor. They were fed only once a day and subjected to relentless torture throughout their captivity.

Jamil, who weighed 74 kilogrammes before his abduction, said he lost 16 kilogrammes during the ordeal.

“Once you’re there, you lose hope. You stop believing you’ll ever leave. Your body becomes numb,” he told journalists.

His brother, Nadhim, said the experience had left lasting psychological scars. “The government has destroyed my life. We pretend to be happy. But inside we’re broken.”

The brothers said their captors repeatedly demanded to know who was financing them and who was behind them. Their ordeal ended when they were blindfolded and abandoned in Gachie.

The brothers later broke their silence after Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi publicly stated that they had been “safely reunited with their families”, a remark they interpreted as tacit acknowledgement of the State’s involvement in their ordeal.

Leslie Muturi was abducted in June 2024 at the height of the Gen Z protests, an ordeal that would later trigger startling revelations from his father.

Speaking publicly after his release, Muturi recounted visiting State House to plead with President Ruto to intervene. It was there, he claimed, that he learnt his son was being held by the National Intelligence Service.

“Standing outside the pavilion, I heard the President ask Haji if he was holding my son. Noordin confirmed that indeed he was holding my son and the President instructed him to release Leslie immediately. Noordin responded that Leslie would be released within an hour,” Muturi recounted.

Muturi said the experience left his family traumatised and raised disturbing questions about the use of enforced disappearances.

“I have personally suffered as my son was abducted, leaving my family in turmoil. I have never received any explanation as to why my son was abducted, held incommunicado or subjected to that ordeal.”

He warned that unless the practice was decisively addressed, it risked plunging the country into instability.

Another high-profile victim was veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho, who was abducted in broad daylight in July 2024.

Gaitho was travelling to work with his 18-year-old son, Andrew, when a white vehicle began following them. Suspecting they were being pursued, they drove to Karen Police Station seeking protection. Instead, the men followed them into the station and forcibly bundled Gaitho into a white Subaru.

Recalling the incident, Gaitho said the men refused to identify themselves. “It is traumatising when you are abducted by unknown people who do not identify themselves.

“When I asked them to identify themselves, the answer was that they had a Subaru, that I should know they were policemen, and that they had guns.”

Gaitho said the experience was particularly traumatic for his son.

“Andrew, my son, was brave. He managed to drive me straight into the station. For an 18-year-old to witness his father being violently abducted must have been deeply traumatising.”