The High Court has summoned the Director of Public Prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, and Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to present themselves following the disappearance of security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe four years ago.
Mwenda, who is a former pilot at the Kenya Air Force, disappeared on June 12, 2021, in Nairobi while he was travelling to his home in Meru. His car was later found abandoned near Tatu City in Kiambu County, without a trace of him.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, October 14, Judge Martin Muya said that the two top officials will be required to present themselves physically in court on October 15.
The judge has said that Ingonga and Kanja will be required to explain the whereabouts of Mwenda, and also explain why they did not produce him in court after it issued an order last month.
Reports allege that Mwenda was last seen in Roysambu in the company of unknown individuals in an unmarked vehicle, believed to be officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
At the time of his disappearance, Mwenda was fighting a court case where he had been accused of fraudulently acquiring Ksh150,000 from a man whom he had promised to secure a job for at the United Nations (UN).
Last Month, a petition was filed by Lawyer Evans Ondieki, who is Mwenda's family lawyer and Mwenda's mother, Jane Gatwiri M'ithinji, at the High Court in Nairobi following the alleged arrest and detention of Mwenda.
According to Ondieki, Mwenda had on several occasions reported that he was receiving death threats at the Central Police Station.
Mwenda's mother claimed that after his disappearance, his family tried to search for him at every police station, hospital, prison, and mortuary, without any success.
According to the petitioners, the unlawful apprehension of Mwenda is a direct violation of his rights of freedom, which are guaranteed under the Constitution.
The petition noted that the court should compel the Attorney General, the IG, and the DCI to produce Mwenda, either dead or alive.
"Ms M'ithinji has gone through psychological and emotional torture for the last four years when her son was allegedly kidnapped by unknown people in Roysambu, in Nairobi county," the petition stated.
