Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has added to the opposition voices claiming the government is backing a capture squad tasked with silencing dissenting voices in Kenya.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday following the alleged capture and abandonment of Juja MP George Koimburi, Kalonzo dismissed claims by the National Police Service (NPS) that the MP had staged his own disappearance. He argued that such a narrative was implausible, citing a breakdown in public trust towards the police.
“There is a capture squad operating in this country. We are guided by what Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said last night — that a special team exists to eliminate opposition in Kenya,” Kalonzo stated.
He went on to question the credibility of senior police officers, saying, “Let Kanja issue whatever statement he wants, but who will believe a police officer like him today? The trust is broken. Kenyans are awake and determined — nothing will stop them from sending this regime home.''
Both Kalonzo and Gachagua have alluded to the existence of this alleged unit, with the former Deputy President going further to suggest the squad could be using chemical inhalants to maim and torture critics of the government.
Earlier this month, Gachagua revealed that a special unit formed during the height of the anti-finance bill protests in 2024 was behind the woes facing the opposition. At the time, Gachagua asserted that the unit that consisted of former officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Administration Police and officers from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was plotting to poison him.
On Monday, Gachagua claimed Koimburi could neither speak nor move his vocal cords due to exposure to an unknown chemical. He made the remarks outside the Karen Hospital, where he visited the hospitalised legislator.
According to Gachagua, Koimburi was extremely weak and barely able to move after being found in a coffee plantation in Kiambu County on Monday morning, following his disappearance on Sunday. He alleged the MP had suffered soft tissue injuries consistent with torture during the 18 hours he was missing.
In January this year, Human Rights Watch Africa exposed a special government security agency reportedly behind the spate of forced disappearances that were the norm or the better part of last year.
During the launch of its 35th Edition of the World Report, the lobby group attributed the surging cases of forced disappearances in Kenya to a special security unit dubbed the Operations Support Unit (OSU).
According to the activists, the special unit was synonymous with the formerly disbanded Special Squad Unit (SSU), which was functional during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.
Addressing the delegation, the Human Rights Watch Africa Director, Otsieno Namwaya, alleged that the OSU operated from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) offices in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, Kalonzo reiterated that, alongside a team of lawyers, they were still pursuing plans to sue the government at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged human rights contraventions, including forced disappearances.
