Kenyan police officer Benedict Kabiru/HANDOUTThe family of a Kenyan police officer who vanished while on the ongoing peacekeeping mission in Haiti has asked the government to provide an update on his whereabouts before the next court hearing later this month.
During a virtual court session at the Milimani Law Courts on Thursday, Senior Counsel Mbuthi Gathenji, appearing for the officer’s mother, Jacinta Wanjiku Kabiru, and other relatives, opposed an application by State Counsel Betty Mwasao to adjourn the matter.
The officer, Benedict Kabiru Kuria, was reported missing earlier in March after the
Kenyan convoy of Multinational Security Support (MSS) was ambushed by
gangs.
Mwasao, representing the Attorney-General, Inspector-General of Police, and other government agencies, told the court she was attending to a sick client in hospital and had been on leave, delaying compliance with previous directions.
Gathenji, in a rejoinder, told the court the family has been waiting for months for information on the fate of their relative, and urged that the urgency of the matter should not be lost.
"The Petitioner has been waiting for news on her own son, an officer who disappeared in Haiti. I plead that we hear the matter today," he requested the court.
High Court Judge Chacha Mwita listened to both parties and appealed to the petitioners to accommodate a short delay sought by State counsel, stressing the need to balance the family’s right to a timely hearing with practical steps the State must take to collate information amid the humanitarian situation at the hospital.
He directed that the petition be heard on September 24 at 11:30 a.m. in open court
Gathenji urged the IG to disclose the full circumstances surrounding the officer’s disappearance before the next hearing date.
"I will get in touch with the legal office of IG to get an update on the status so far," State counsel Mwasao replied.
The family had petitioned the court in July under a certificate of urgency.
In their application, Wanjiku, Kuria’s uncle, Daniel Kabiru Ndung’u, and his brother Philip Kamau Kuria sought orders compelling the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General, the National Police Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Interior to confirm whether the officer is alive or dead.
They also asked the court to direct the State to disclose all measures taken to trace him and to facilitate communication with the family.
The authorities have previously confirmed that a second Kenyan officer who went missing in Haiti has yet to be found. IG Douglas Kanja said efforts are ongoing to trace him.
The officer is believed to have disappeared in March when a Kenyan convoy of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission was ambushed by armed gangs.
The officers were reportedly trying to assist a Haitian National Police vehicle stuck in a ditch, suspected to have been dug by the gangs, when they were attacked.
Gathenji told the court that in view of this background, it was only fair for the government to give the family a status report before the hearing so they could know what efforts had been made and what prospects there are of finding Kuria.
The matter will now proceed on September 24 for a hearing.
