Families agonising wait after kin's enforced disappearance

As the world marked International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Monday, all Husni Mbarak's family wants, is to have him back, whether alive or dead.

Husni was abducted on May 25, 2018 after an afternoon prayer at a nearby mosque in Mwembe Tayari according to his family.

His father Mbarak Khalid said efforts to trace his son for the past three years have remained futile.

“There is nothing more painful than not knowing whether your son is dead or alive. You'd rather bury him, than not knowing where he is,” Khalid said.

However, Khalid still holds onto the hope that their son, who was 18 years then, is still alive somewhere and would return home someday.

On the fateful day when Husni went missing, his father narrates, he was abducted by unknown people while walking back to his place of work.

He was working as a mechanic at his father's garage.

The family said at least five armed men in a white Toyota Fielder pounced and drove away with him.

During the incident, Husni screamed, which attracted the attention of other people, including that of his brother and other co-workers.

However, when they attempted to intervene, the abductors claimed they were police officers and they knew what they were doing.

To scare away the crowd that was surging, the said officers shot in the air before bundling Husni into their waiting vehicle and drove off.

That was the last time the teenage boy was seen.

His father said he has been to all government offices, including the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and that of  Criminal Investigation, but no help is coming through.

 “I have talked to the DPP Noordin Haji and the DCI George Kinoti who promised to look into the issue, but they have failed to tell me where my son is,” he said.

Khalid told journalists that he is confident that it is the police who took away his son.

“I cannot sleep when I remember about my son. I hear his voice in his siblings, whenever I hear someone knocking, I always rush to the door hoping it's him. Eid celebrations are like funerals to us since he is the only one missing on the table,” the father said.

He added that, “They (abductors) should give me my son Husni, even if it is his bones. I will accept him no matter the situation.”

Several kilometres away in Eastern region, the family of John Syengo is still hoping that their son will one day return home alive.

According to his uncle Samuel Musyoka, Syengo had just been freed by the court when he was abducted outside the Mombasa law courts.

On April 4, 2021, Syengo had arrived in Mombasa from his rural home.

The following day on April 5, police officers from Changamwe arrested him for a robbery with violence-related case, before arraigning him at the Mombasa courts where they sought 14 days to detain him as they complete investigations.

Days later, the court freed him after the investigations could not link him to the robbery with violence allegations levelled against him.

However, while talking to his family outside the court, people suspected to be police took him away never to be seen again.

“Let them give us our son whether dead or alive. The court absolved him thrice, why did they take him away?” Musyoka posed.

According to Haki Africa, cases of forced disappearances keep rising each year.

The executive director Hussein Khalid said in the eight months, they have recorded 26 cases of enforced disappearance in the region.

“The number is up from 18 cases in 2020.The situation is getting dire every day," he said.

Khalid called on international bodies such as the United Nation to intervene saying the government has refused to tame its officers.

-Edited by SKanyara