• Missing for about 60 days. Tortured, mutilated body found in City Mortuary.
•Even if the claims were true, his sister said, the police should have arrested him and given him a chance to defend himself and, effectively, his life.
Image: COURTESY
The family of a Mombasa businessman who went missing in December has denied reports linking him to the drugs trade.
His mutilated body was found in Nairobi's City Mortuary.
Mwinyi Mwinyi, 41, was picked by men in plainclothes at his Urange home on December 20. For about 60 days his whereabouts were not known.
His sister Sadaka Nyanje told the Star the men stormed his house and asked whether he was Mwinyi Mwinyi.
When he said he was, they said they were police officers and said he was under arrest, Nyanje said.
“After he enquired about the reason for arrest, the men claimed he would be told later on,” she said.
On February 11 after along search, his family found his mutilated body abandoned at the city morgue. His body had been collected from Kinale forest, they were told.
A postmortem examination of the body showed he had been subjected to torture and extreme pain.
Reports from DCI sources indicated he was a dug dealer who had defied warnings from authorities to stop dealing narcotics.
His sister Nyanje dismissed claims of illegal trade, saying her brother’s businesses known to the family were legal.
Even if the claims were true, she said, the police should have arrested him and given him a chance to defend himself and, effectively, his life.
Haki Africa boss Hussein Khalid said the case "speaks to the question of the rule of law. Whoever killed him committed an equally criminal act. No pretext should ever be entertained for killing someone without a lawful justifiable cause.”
Calling for justice to the family, Hussein said the case was straight forward and the police should be able to get to the bottom of it expeditiously.
"The case of Mwinyi Mwinyi is an open one as he was picked in broad daylight in Mombasa by men who identified themselves as police officers right outside his house."
Initial reports from police sources had indicated Mwinyi was a close associate of Masuo Bakari Tajiri. allegedly a hard drugs baron at the Coast region.
Tajiri went missing on December 5 and his body later discovered at the city morgue in January.
He faced numerous court cases related to the illegal trade.
Cases of missing persons being found dead have been increasing in past months, despite protests that most involve suspects with cases in court.
(Edited by V. Graham)