The Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, and the Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, will face jail time if they fail to appear in court for the next hearing.
Both Kanja and Amin failed to appear before the court on Wednesday, January 8, to respond to questions regarding the abduction of seven people in a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), among others.
While delivering the ruling, Justice Bahati Mwamuye summoned the two for the next hearing, warning that they would be sent to jail if they did not attend. The hearing has been set for January 27.
“If the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, misses the third hearing, I will have no option but to cite, convict, and sentence him on the spot,” ordered Justice Mwamuye.
The judge, whose ruling is out of the norm, further directed that if the DCI boss doesn’t appear, he will be convicted on the spot. He will, however, be invited for a mitigation and sentencing hearing.
The ruling, according to the judge, is out of character, as ordinarily, he would have ruled on IG Kanja’s absence from the second hearing. However, he chose to extend the grace period to the two in the interest of locating the one abductee who remains at large.
Kanja and Amin were last month ordered by Justice Diana Kavedza to produce six suspects who were abducted in December 2024. The orders required that the victims be produced before the court on December 31, 2024, but this did not happen.
As such, Justice Bahati Mwamuye directed that they attend court in person today to show cause why they should not be cited for contempt for failing to comply with the orders. The two failed to appear, with Kanja’s counsel requesting the court to grant them 14 days to provide answers.
Kanja informed the court that he was attending to matters of national security. Earlier today, the judge ordered the police chief to appear before the court to explain how the mysterious abductions occurred without police intervention.
The court also directed the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to provide details of the vehicles allegedly used in orchestrating the abductions. NTSA Director-General George Njao has been instructed to submit the vehicle details before the next court session.
“State officers have an obligation, according to the oath of office and the constitution. This court will not hesitate next week if these individuals are not brought before the court,” the judge said.
“If the six gentlemen are found, I am on duty every day; nothing prevents the respondents from producing them to this High Court or any other High Court in the country,” Judge Mwamuye added.
