President William Ruto has reassured the nation that cases of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances will not happen under his watch.
Ruto, who spoke during a joint press briefing with the visiting Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, revealed that there are no missing persons currently in the country as alleged by some quarters.
He stated that all those who went missing have been reunited with their families.
“All the people who disappeared or were abducted have been brought back to their families and their homes,” he said.
“I have given clarity and firm instructions that nothing of that kind will happen again.”
The Head of State was responding to a question from a journalist who had asked about the plans put by the government to ensure such cases do not happen again.
The journalist had cited reports from right groups.
The latest report by ‘Missing Voices’ stated that there were 55 enforced disappearances in 2024.
Ruto stressed that it was his commitment when he took to power that such cases would not be witnessed under his administration.
“I undertook to the country that, being a democracy, Kenya must not, as has happened in the past, where bodies were found in all manner of places, that will not happen anymore,” he said.
It further states that June 2024, during the peak of the Gen Z and Millennials’ protests against the Finance Bill 2024, witnessed the highest number of enforced disappearances at 15 cases.
October followed with 11 incidents, while July and August each recorded seven cases.
The report, however, revealed that holding police officers accountable for enforced disappearances remains nearly impossible.
This is because most of the cases were carried out by hooded men in plain clothes, using unmarked vehicles without local number plates, further complicating efforts to trace the perpetrators.
