The High Court in Nairobi has been urged to order the police and other state agencies to produce security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe, who has been missing since June 2021.
Through lawyer Evans Ondieki, Mbijiwe’s mother, Jane Gatwiri Mithinji, filed an urgent petition accusing police officers of abducting and unlawfully detaining her son.
In her application before the High Court’s Criminal Division, Mithinji stated that her son was abducted on June 12, 2021, around Roysambu, Nairobi, while on his way to Meru County.
She claimed that he was seized by individuals suspected to be police officers who were driving unmarked vehicles.
The petitioner has named the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the National Police Service (NPS) as respondents in the case.
According to Mithinji, her son’s disappearance was preceded by threats to his life, which he had reported at the Central Police Station under OB number 75/16/06/2021.
She said the family has not heard from him since his abduction and that authorities have failed to account for his whereabouts.
The family is seeking a court order compelling the police to produce Mbijiwe, dead or alive, and to secure his immediate and unconditional release if he is in custody.
Lawyer Ondieki argued that the prolonged disappearance of Mbijiwe amounts to a gross violation of his constitutional rights, including the right to life and liberty.
“Consequently, and in the alternative, we urge this Honourable Court to direct the respondents, whether jointly or individually, to immediately and unconditionally release the applicant from illegal custody,” read part of the court documents.
“Upon hearing and determination of this application, this Court should order that Mwenda Mbijiwe be released forthwith,” the application further stated.