Ndiang'ui Kinyagia's puzzle

Ndiang’ui Kinyagia is a shaken man. Some of those who have interacted with him since he resurfaced in court on Thursday and retreated to his parents’ home in Kajiado County, say he wears a disheveled look.

When he went missing on June 21, the 35-year-old software engineer sported an afro. He showed up in court yesterday with a haircut that struck some of his associates as “strange.” Some even joked that he could have been shaved using an axe.

The man who has had the nation on the edge over what many believed was a state abduction carried out by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) does not have any signs of torture. But his face tells of an ordeal, whether in police custody or self-imposed exile, which has disoriented him.

“He does not have physical signs of torture, but he needs psycho-social support. We have asked him to stay away from social media and not to have a phone to contact people. We are trying to manage the situation,” said a contact who had seen him. 

The description throws wide the claims of abduction. Could he have been on the run to evade arrest, too afraid to land a fate similar to that of Albert Ojwang’, a 31-year-old teacher who was killed in police custody? Did he choose to reappear after the matter got too serious?”

Or did he cut a deal with his abductors that saw him secure freedom? He is yet to open up about where he was and ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001523328/court-bars-police-from-arresting-ndiangui-kinyagia-after-reappearance">what he might have gone through<, not even to close associates.

Those around him throw hints at what could have occurred. A source says Ndiang’ui had locked his house in Kinoo before the DCI pounced. On Wednesday night, he reached out to his cousin about his whereabouts and the lady, a lawyer, organised for his appearance in court.

“The mother was told to be in court very early in the morning. She did not know what was to transpire. Ndiang’ui came to court disguised, the mother could not pick him out. It was only other relatives who saw the young man in court and alerted the mother, who immediately broke down. The young man is terrified by the experience, we are trying to help him out,” the source said.

On social media, speculation swirled. There were more questions than answers, such as where he got the phone to call his cousin if he had been incommunicado all this time. If he had moved out of his home, where was he picked, or where did he go that no one could trace him? 

“Do you believe you can disappear for that long in a country where the police tracked down Albert Ojwang’ in Homa Bay and brought him to Nairobi?” Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership and management who often comments on current affairs, posed on Standard’s Unfiltered podcast yesterday.

The saga surrounding the disappearance has gripped the country for nearly two weeks. What began as a routine day on June 21 has since unfolded into a case marked by allegations of abduction, state intimidation, and digital repression, culminating in Ndiangui’s eventual resurfacing in court.

A statement by his ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/radiomaisha/national/article/2001523300/i-am-alive-and-safe-missing-activist-ndiangui-kinyagia-tells-family">family’s lawyer, Wahome Thuku<, on Thursday said Ndiang’ui had contacted a member of the family on Wednesday evening from an undisclosed location and said he was “well, healthy and safe.”

“Mr Ndiangui indicated to the family member that he had hidden temporarily for fear of his life upon learning that DCI officers were looking for him over unknown criminal allegations. Mr Ndiangui has indicated that he is ready and willing to present himself to the DCI and to be presented before any court of law when his safety and security are guaranteed,” Thuku posted on his social media handles.

On Monday, High Court judge Chacha Mwita had summoned DCI boss Mohamed Amin to appear in court, directing the National Police Service to produce him “dead or alive.”

That followed a petition by the Law Society of Kenya, which wanted Ndiang’ui produced in court. The LSK sued the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, Amin, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Attorney General Dorcas Oduor.

Amin had on Monday said Ndiang’ui was not in their custody, asserting the same message when he appeared in court yesterday in honour of a summons.

“Wherever he is, I would urge that he submits himself to the nearest police station,” Amin had said, describing Ndiang’ui as a person of interest, ostensibly owing to an itinerary of last week’s youth-led protests, which he posted on his social media handles on June 19.

Amin acknowledged that the agency had traced the viral post back to him, conducted a digital investigation, and identified his residence in Kinoo.

Ndiang’ui’s mother, Margaret Rukwaro, said she spoke to her son on the day he disappeared on Saturday, through WhatsApp, after failing to reach him via phone. He responded, assuring her that he would be off for about an hour. That was the last communication the family had with him.

By 1pm, all lines of communication, phone and WhatsApp, had gone dead. Alarmed, Rukwaro stayed up through the night trying to reach him. Her concern deepened the next day when she noticed his usually vibrant online presence had gone silent.

On Monday, the family visited the apartment where he lived in Kinoo, they encountered hesitant neighbours and a caretaker who eventually opened up.

The caretaker revealed that on Saturday afternoon, at least 10 Subaru vehicles carrying men believed to be from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrived at the residence.

The officers, reportedly without a search warrant, were initially blocked by the caretaker. But after a prolonged standoff lasting until 9pm, they broke into Kinyagia’s apartment.

They ransacked the home and seized two laptops, two mobile phones, passports, and a yellow fever card. A handwritten inventory was left behind on a DCI-branded paper.

Notably, the officers locked the house with their padlock and left with the key. When the ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001523078/activist-ndiangui-kinyagia-not-in-police-custody-dci-boss-amin-says">family reported the incident< at Kinoo Police Station, the OCS claimed not to know the operation.

In the following days, Kenyans took to social media using the hashtag #FreeNdianguiKinyagia, demanding accountability and his immediate release or formal arraignment. Human rights activists, lawyers, and members of the public viewed the incident as a continuation of enforced disappearances, especially targeting young people associated with the Gen Z movement.