High Court asked to compel State to produce missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe
Mbijiwe's family is seeking orders requiring top state security agencies to account for his whereabouts, four years after he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
The High Court in Nairobi has been urged to compel the government to produce security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe, who has been missing since June 2021, after his family alleged he was abducted by men believed to be plainclothes police officers.
Through an urgent habeas corpus application, Mbijiwe's family is seeking orders requiring top state security agencies to account for his whereabouts, four years after he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
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The case, filed under a Miscellaneous Criminal Application, names the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the National Police Service as respondents.
The application was filed by Mbijiwe's family and Jane Gatwiri M'ithinji, who is acting on his behalf, through the law firm of Ondieki & Ondieki Advocates. Advocate Evans Ondieki swore the supporting affidavit and certified the matter as one of extreme urgency.
In court documents, the applicants claim that Mbijiwe was abducted on June 12, 2021, in the Roysambu area of Nairobi County while travelling to Meru. He was reportedly driving a vehicle registered as KCN 641K, belonging to Edward Mwangi Mucharia, when he was allegedly intercepted by men suspected to be DCI officers in unmarked cars and bundled into a waiting vehicle.
The family believes that Mbijiwe's disappearance is linked to his appearance on Muuga FM two days earlier, where he discussed sensitive national security issues. The application further reveals that he had reported death threats to Central Police Station under OB number 75/16/06/2021, just days before he went missing.
The family is asking the court to order the respondents to produce Mbijiwe in court "dead or alive" or to immediately release him if he is being held in unlawful custody. They argue that the state's continued silence over his disappearance amounts to an egregious violation of his fundamental rights.
The application cites Articles 25(d), 28, 29, and 51(2) of the Constitution, which guarantee the right to freedom and security of the person, as well as protection from torture and arbitrary detention. It also relies on Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which provides for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus.
According to the petitioners, Mbijiwe's prolonged disappearance represents "a blatant disregard for the rule of law and constitutionalism," and unless the court intervenes, the violations of his rights will continue unabated.
A ruling in favour of the applicants would compel the state to account for Mbijiwe's whereabouts or face contempt of court proceedings. If the state denies knowledge of his detention, the matter could escalate into a full criminal investigation into his alleged abduction.
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