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Three Nairobi families seek missing relatives

Families say the victims were taken into custody by people purporting to be police officers but they have never been produced in court.

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by Akello Odenyo

News18 September 2022 - 20:00
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In Summary


  • • The three went missing on different dates after allegedly being arrested by police.
  • • Families want investigations hastened and their loved ones returned.

Three Nairobi families are searching for their sons whom they say went missing while in police custody over two months.

Martin Mungai, James Muthee and Vincent Owuor went missing on different dates in different incidents in the city.

The families said the victims were taken into custody by people purporting to be police officers but they have never been produced in court.

Muthee's father, Peter Mwangi, said his son went missing on July 14 after he was arrested by unknown persons on his way home from work at around 8pm.

Two vehicles blocked his car and forced him out. He was then pushed into one of the cars and driven away.

His car was later found abandoned at a police station in Ruai subcounty but the families say police investigators are taking too long.

"Why take our sons away and just disappear them? If they have committed a crime, arrest and charge them in court," Mwangi said.

Mary Wanjiku, Mungai's mother, said her son left his house in Roysambu on June 30 for a business meeting in Ruiru, but never arrived.

Reports were made at the Kasarani police station and the family has searched countrywide without success.

A third man, Vincent Owuor, an IT expert, was picked up from his office in Nairobi on September 13 by persons who claimed to be police officers.

They did not produce any documents to identify themselves.

Owuor’s family began their search at Kilimani police station, from where they were directed to other stations across the city.

"We have been moving from one police station to another in search of my husband," said Lisper Murugi, Owuor's wife.

A day later, Murugi took her search to Vigilance House, but she was referred to the Anti-Terror Police headquarters, which she said, did not make sense to the family.

"If at all you can feel the pain we are feeling as a mother, sibling or spouse, please return Vincent (Owuor) to us. His young family is in so much pain," sister Mercy Owuor said.

All three families are distraught by the thought of what might have happened to their loved ones.

Enforced disappearances remain common in Kenya despite efforts by multiple organisations and agencies to curb them.

Missing Voices, which has been recording and following up on such cases, has called on the new administration to resolve the issue of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

"We call on the National Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to move with speed to investigate these and all other cases of enforced disappearance, Haki Africa executive director Hussein Khalid said.

"We call on them to bring all perpetrators to book."

(Edited by V. Graham)

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