• Tana River county had the highest number of people recorded missing with 17.
• Mombasa has nine, Lamu six and while in Kilifi five have disappeared.
Twenty people have disappeared at the Coast region and their whereabouts remain unknown in the last year, a report by a human rights lobby shows.
The report from Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) also shows that the number of people who have disappeared since 2017 is 37.
Tana River county had the highest number of people recorded missing with 17, followed by Mombasa with nine, Lamu six and Kilifi five.
Muhuri says an unknown number of people in Kwale county are missing. Kwale residents are fearful of reporting cases on grounds of police reprisals, Muhuri said.
The lobby has complained of lack of seriousness in dealing with such cases leading to many others disappearing under unknown circumstances.
Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma said a special rapporteur should be deployed to handle such cases.
“The rule of law should be followed. It has been long since people started to disappear with their whereabouts unknown,” Auma told the Star on the phone.
He urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to deploy security forces to end the forced disappearances.
“Families have sought in vain for information regarding the whereabouts of those arrested. In some cases, families have filed habeas corpus petitions, seeking a court order to compel the state to provide information.
“Each time, even where there is a court order, officials have denied any knowledge of the detainees’ whereabouts,” he said.
In Mombasa county, all of the cases reported are from Majengo area which is in Mvita subcounty.
A recent case is of Athman Mohamed, a 44-year-old fish trader who was allegedly kidnapped on his way home from evening prayer by four armed men in Majengo area on Thursday last week.
His family members described him as a humble man who did not have any criminal record.
They asked the government to help them find him and bring him back home.
“I tried to follow up with different police stations but until now, we have not received any information about him,” his brother Rizaq Mohammed said.