Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has, for the second time, hit out at his boss President William Ruto over the current spate of abductions and extrajudicial killings.
The CS called for the setting up of a commission of inquiry to probe the incidents.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has called on President William Ruto to put to an end the alarming trend of abductions and killings in the country.
Speaking at the Nairobi Funeral Home where he went to condole with the families of the missing Mlolongo persons, Muturi proposed to have a commission of inquiry be formed to probe the ever-escalating cases.
Billy Mwangi, seen here with his mother after he was freed, has been reticent about his kidnapping
The reported disappearance of more than 80 government critics over the last six months has caused a huge public backlash in Kenya.
A judge has warned he will imprison top security officials for contempt of court on Monday if they fail to appear for a third time to account for a recent string of alleged abductions.
The case is linked to the disappearances documented by Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights since nationwide protests against proposed tax hikes began last June.
At least 24 are said to still be missing.
The police and government deny kidnapping and illegally detaining protesters, but the country has a history of state-sponsored abductions, and some Kenyans fear they are returning to that dark past.
The Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Directorate of Criminal Investigations Director Mohamed Amin were ordered to produce in court seven social media influencers who disappeared in December.
Five suddenly reappeared in early January at various locations across the country.
Mr Kanja’s lawyers asked the court for more time to record statements from them and file a report.
The boy has not shared a lot… he looked to be in shock,” Gerald Mwangi Karicha
Billy Mwangi’s father.
Billy Mwangi is one of the five. The 24-year-old was dropped off by his alleged abductors 75km (46 miles) from his hometown in Embu, in central Kenya, in an apparent act of intimidation.
Billy’s father, Gerald Mwangi Karicha, told the BBC his son was traumatised.
“The boy has not shared a lot,” he said. “All I can say is that when he came, he was not his usual self. He looked to be in shock.”
Billy, a college student who had been a vocal critic of the government on social media,disappeared on 21 December 2024 while at a barbers’ shop in Embu.
According to witnesses, hooded men arrived in a Toyota Fielder and a double-cabin pick-up, bundled him into one of the vehicles and sped off.
Within hours, his family’s worst fears began to unfold.
“Most weekends, we are together watching football. His club is Chelsea; mine is Arsenal,” Gerald said.
He called Billy to discuss a football match on the evening of his disappearance, only to find his son’s phone switched off.
The barbers’ shop owner later informed him of the abduction, triggering a frantic search.
Billy’s mother collapsed when she heard the news and the weeks that followed were agonising for the family.
As soon as he was found, Billy was taken to hospital for a routine check-up. His family says he is still recovering from the trauma, but his release has brought them some measure of relief.
Like many who have reappeared after alleged abductions, Billy has said little about his ordeal, perhaps out of fear.
The Longton brothers – Aslam (L) and Jamil (R) – were held for 32 days. Aslam told the BBC he was regularly beaten by his abductors
Jamil and Aslam Longton also kept quiet after they were released in September from 32 days in captivity.
The brothers were warned, says Jamil, that they would be killed if they went to the media.
Three months later, a government official publicly referred to their case as a lawful arrest.
The siblings took this as confirmation that a government agency was responsible for what they had been through and found the courage to speak out.
“The constitution of Kenya is very clear,” says Jamil. “You should be arrested and taken to court within 24 hours. Ours was 32 days. We were never given a lawyer to represent us anywhere.
“We were not allowed to see our family or communicate to our family. So this is not an arrest, this is an abduction.”
The brothers told the BBC that Aslam had helped organise protests against tax rises in the town of Kitengela near the capital, Nairobi, and had been warned by security agents to stop his activism.
One day in August the two were pulled into a car by their home, hooded and handcuffed, and taken to an unknown location where they were held in small dark cells.
Aslam says he was regularly beaten, his tormenter demanding to know who was funding the protests.
“I was very scared,” he says. “When the door was opened that man would come with a fibre cable and a metal rod.
“I was scared he had come to beat me or finish me off – there were only two options to beat me or to kill me.”
Jamil describes their abductors as heavily armed, able to track their mobiles phones and confident enough to pick them up in broad daylight, operating with a level of resources and degree of flexibility that human rights groups have reported in many cases.
[President Ruto] has not sanctioned any forms of abduction whatsoever, because he is a man who believes in the rule of law”Isaac Mwaura – Kenyan government spokesman
But this does not mean they are official security operatives, says government spokesman Isaac Mwaura, denying that the state is behind abductions.
“Organized security may also be part of organized crime,” he told the BBC.
“It could also be for political reasons… Our political detractors have really railed on this issue. They actually run with it just to settle up political scores.”
Mr Mwaura declined to comment on the case of government minister Justin Muturi, one of the most damning indictments of Kenya’s security agencies.
Muturi says his son was picked up by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and only released after he made a direct appeal to President William Ruto.
“That is a matter of investigation, because that is his side of the story,” said Mr Mwaura. “But what is a counter-story of the National Intelligence Service?
“I would want to say categorically that the president of the republic of Kenya, who is the head of government, has not sanctioned any forms of abduction whatsoever, because he is a man who believes in the rule of law.”
In fact, Ruto has publicly promised to stop the abductions, forced to respond to public outrage, and to concern from Western allies.
Many are distressed that the apparently systematic disappearance of anti-government activists has resurfaced in this way, recalling similar methods under the authoritarian leadership of Daniel arap Moi in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gitobu Imanyara, a journalist and activist who campaigned for multi-party politics in the early 1990s, was arrested and beaten by Moi’s regime. He has no doubt he is seeing the “Moi playbook” in action now.
But, he says, times have changed. Constitutional amendments have established more mechanisms of accountability and “there is a greater segment of Kenyan society that will not be intimidated”.
“The democratic space has expanded so much the government cannot wish away democratic voices of dissent,” he told the BBC.
Plus with social media, “the word spreads out almost instantaneously”, he said.
“We cannot be censored the way we used to be censored in those days when we could only use landlines.”
We are so depressed, so devastated… we’re praying he’ll be found”Stacey Mutua
Sister of Steve Mbisi, who disappeared in December
Reports of disappearances have tapered off in recent weeks.
But despite the announcement of police investigations, no-one has been charged, let alone convicted, for carrying them out.
Several advocacy groups have petitioned the attorney general asking that abduction cases be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As for the families of those still missing, the nightmare continues.
“We are so depressed, so devastated,” says Stacey Mutua, the sister of Steve Mbisi, one of the seven who disappeared in December.
“We are hoping they’ll release him. [Most] of the abductees were freed, but he is still missing. We’re praying he’ll be found.”
Why victims of abductions want ICC to intervene
Victims of abductions have listed demands to the government as they detailed what they went through when they were abducted.
They stated that they want the government to conduct speedy investigations into the matter.
“We demand an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into the cases of Bob Njagi, Jamil Longton, Aslam Longton, Justus Mutumwa, Martin Mwau, Steve Mbisi, Kalani Mwema, and all other victims and survivors of enforced disappearance,” they stated.
They have called on the state to account for every missing person and bring those responsible for their abductions and killings to justice.
“We will not settle for silence, cover-ups, or reports that absolve the guilty,” they stated.
The victims called for an end to enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of activists.
The victims said that they will not accept half-hearted investigations or empty promises.
They said that every extrajudicial killing, every case of police brutality, and every act of violence must be met with swift legal action.
“We call on the International Criminal Court to intervene. This is because Kenya’s human rights violations are no longer a domestic issue; they are crimes against humanity.”
They called on the ICC to take immediate action to investigate and prosecute those responsible for these heinous crimes.
“Kenya must ratify and domesticate the international covenant to protect all persons from enforced disappearances.”
Supported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Bob Njagi, Aslam Longton, and Jamil Longton detailed their experience in the hands of their abductors.
This is even as pressure continues to mount on President William Ruto’s administration to resolve the spate of abductions targeting dissidents.
Top government officials on Friday put security agencies on the spot demanding answers on who is behind the abductions and killings of Kenyans.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi separately challenged the police to probe the matter.
They want the security agencies to produce those behind the vice that has been blamed on the Kenya Kwanza administration.
We are being monitored; abductees and victims raise alarm over their safety
Families of abductees and victims of extra-judicial killings have raised an alarm over their safety, saying they are being monitored by unknown people in vehicles.
This comes days after the bodies of two of three men abducted in Mlolongo, Machakos County last year were found in different locations.
In a joint statement, the victims are calling on the relevant state agencies to expedite probe into pending cases of enforced disappearances.
“We demand an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into the cases of Bob Njagi, Jamil Longton, Aslam Longton, Justus Mutumwa, Martin Mwau, Steve Mbisi, Kalani Mwema, and all other victims and survivors of enforced disappearance,” their statement reads.
“The state must be compelled to account for every missing person and bring those responsible for their abductions and killings to justice. We will not settle for silence, cover-ups, or manipulated reports that absolve the guilty.
The statement was issued by Bob Njagi, Aslam Longton and Jamil Longton who were abducted by unknown people, allegedly tortured in an unknown location and later on released.
Others who took part in the press conference are: Dancan Kyalo and Monicah Mwende both relatives to Kenyans whose bodies were found after going missing for months alongside Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Defenders Coalition and the Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI).
Bob Njagi, Aslam Longton and Jamil Longton say unknown vehicles have been trailing them, and sometimes parked outside their residences overninght.
As survivors of enforced disappearances, we know the state is targeting us because we are witnesses to the ongoing enforced disappearances and subsequent torture and trauma. We have already lost Justus Mutumwa and Martin Mwau—both witnesses to these enforced disappearances, torture and trauma,” they say.
They claim efforts to report these suspicious vehicles to the police have been futile.
Dancan Kyalo, a brother to the late Justus Mutumwa whose body was found on January 30 after months of searching for him says he has had to relocate for fear of his life.
That was after he received numerous calls from a caller who is unknown to him threatening him.
“Fearing for my safety, I had no choice but to relocate and live in constant fear of further retaliation. I am devastated by the tragic end to my brother’s search. On January 30, shortly after Kanja and Amin appeared in court, we found his body at the Nairobi Funeral Home. His forehead had deep cuts, his eyes had been pierced, and his lips were cut. His wrists bore visible marks, indicating they had been tightly bound,” he says.
Monicah Mwende, a sister to Kalani Mwema who went missing on December 17 last year and his body was found January 30, 2025 says before they found the deceased she had received numerous calls asking her to be discrete.
“He also warned me to keep this information to myself or risk my brother ending up in a morgue. Holding onto hope, I waited for his release,” she says.
The spate of abduction of young adults in various parts of the country has sparked a public outrage for months, with majority of public figures publicly condemning the act and urging Ruto to intervene and help put an end to the abductions.
The latest public figure to condemn the abductions is Former Chief Justice David Maraga.
On Friday, he called out the government over the increasing incidences of alleged state-linked abductions and murders of the youth saying the crimes are a profound betrayal of the future of the country and the sanctity of its Constitution.
He said every Kenyan and particularly the youth deserve to live in safety and security to allow them to pursue their dreams.
Similarly, Human Rights Groups including the Law Society of Kenya have filed cases linked to the abductions in court, putting top security officials on the spot.
Yes, Kenyan Gen Z activists fighting for their country and human rights organizations as well as progressive political formations can and will win this war for human rights in Kenya. They never lost even under the most oppressive conditions in the Moi dictatorship with William Ruto as one of his most important operatives killing opposition activists and raking money from the CBK with Moi approved Youth YK92 gangsters.
Here is the problem. Asking William Ruto to set up a Commission of Inquiry about him killing young Kenyan activists makes no sense. He is not going to do it. Let us learn from what the KNCHR did after the 2007/8 massacres and state terrorism in Kenya that left thousands dead.
They launched a full scale investigation and visited victims and families and gathered a lot of the evidence of the crimes and took the matter to the ICC. That is the only option we have in Kenya today and it is going to be achieved if human rights organizations and all Kenyans work work together. It is going to be done and even William Ruto knows that.
Adongo Ogony is a Kenyan Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
