The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has denied holding missing blogger and activist Ndiangui Kinyagia, even as public concern mounts over his disappearance, now entering its tenth day.
Speaking during a press briefing on Monday, DCI Director Mohamed Amin clarified that while Kinyagia is a person of interest in an ongoing investigation, he is not being held by the National Police Service.
“Ndiagui Kinyagia was a person of interest to us after publishing inflammatory content on social media,” Amin said.
“Our investigations confirmed that the social media account used to share the posts belonged to him. We profiled him, identified his residence, and conducted a lawful search at his apartment in Kinoo.”
Amin added that officers recovered several electronic gadgets believed to be useful to the investigation, but Kinyagia was not found during the search.
“We did an inventory of the recovered items, which was countersigned by the caretaker of the apartment,” he noted.
Kinyagia was last seen 10 days ago, shortly after sharing a controversial programme for the June 25 anti-government protests.
Some of the content in his post was interpreted by authorities as a call for regime change — a move that drew the attention of law enforcement.
Earlier on Monday, the High Court ordered Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Amin to either produce Kinyagia or appear in court on July 1 to explain his whereabouts.
The order came in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Kinyagia’s family and civil rights groups, who allege enforced disappearance.
Despite the court directive and public pressure, Amin reiterated that the government does not have the blogger in custody and urged Kinyagia to present himself to the nearest police station.
“Mine is to confirm to Kenyans that Ndiagui is not under the custody of the National Police Service,” Amin said.
“He is a person of interest to us, and wherever he is, I would urge that he surrender to the authorities.”
The disappearance has sparked widespread concern, with online campaigns demanding #WhereIsNdiagui gaining traction and human rights organisations warning of a possible violation of constitutional rights.
Kinyagia’s family has maintained that they have not heard from him since his disappearance, and they have called on the government to come clean about his fate.
