The family of missing Assistant County Commissioner Hussein Abdirahman Mohamed has moved to court to compel the State to produce the county official, dead or alive.
Hussein, who is also a Manager at Huduma Centre in Wajir, went missing on Tuesday, July 8, with his family now filing a petition seeking to compel the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja to produce the missing county official.
In court documents obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, Hussein's family filed a habeas corpus application under a certificate of urgency demanding that the state produce Hussein or give a credible account about his whereabouts by July 14.
The county government official was last seen attending an official function, only to go missing hours later. This inevitably sparked concern, particularly since there was no news of his state days after going missing.
“This is a man who dedicated his life to public service. He had no known enemies, no ongoing disputes. One moment he was seated with government officials, and the next, he was gone," part of the petition, filed by the family lawyer Danstan Omari, reads.
The petition was accompanied by supporting documents, including photographs showing Hussein seaten among dignitaries at the event in Wajir county, which marked his last public appearance before going missing.
The family, through the petition, cited multiple violations of constitutional rights, including Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code as they questioned the government's responsibility in upholding citizens' rights.
“There is justifiable reason to believe that the Applicant is being held/detained incommunicado,” the petition went on, questioning the state's silence, five days after a missing person's report was filed at Sojir Police Station.
The family is now seeking to have the High Court direct IG Kanja, either personally or jointly with the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to “immediately and unconditionally” present Hussein before the court.
In the application, which names the AG and DPP as first and third respondents respectively, Hussein's family warns that the failure to present Hussein in court would further the issue of unlawful detentions.
The case of the missing county commissioner had notable similarities to a similar one involving blogger and activist Ndiangui Kinyagia, whose disappearance caused an outrage on social media.
Justice Chacha Mwita had initially issued orders to the DCI boss and Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, who failed to appear in court on Tuesday, July 1, to present themselves and shed light on the whereabouts of Kinyagia, only for the blogger to resurface, claiming he went into hiding for fear of his life.
