Court to IG of Police Kanja: Show up on January 27 or face conviction over abductions

Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the High Court in Nairobi has warned that he will convict and immediately sentence the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja for contempt of court if he fails to appear in court on Monday, January 27.

Mwamuye said only Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin will be given an opportunity to mitigate before sentencing if he also fails to appear in court on the same date.

The two are wanted to shed light on abductions of anti-government activists.

Six men had been abducted and held in unknown places until Monday this week when five of them were released. The sixth, Steve Mbisi Kavingo is still in the hands of the unknown abductors.

Kanja and Amin had been summoned by Mwamuye to appear in court today but they failed to appear.

Mwamuye adjourned the proceedings and gave Kanja's lawyer Paul Nyamondi 20 minutes to ascertain if IG could be available to attend court today.

However, Nyamondi said Kanja was not picking up calls but his office had indicated that he was out of Nairobi attending a security meeting.

Mwamuye hinted that Kanja should have given the matter of abductions priority because "this is what is in the minds of most Kenyans today".

Nyamondi had asked for 14 days to enable DCI to record statements of the five ex-abductees and conclude investigations into the matter.

He said the five have crucial information that could help police to resolve the issue of abductions.

But Senior Counsels Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua and Senator Okiya Omtata opposed urging the court to handle the issue of abductions seriously because it concerns lives.