National

Finance Bill demos: Kidnapped students Joshua Okayo, Regis Wanjala found

Demonstrators react as police use tear gas to disperse them during a demonstration against the Finance Bill 2024/2025 in Nairobi on June 25, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi)

By Bashir Mohammed | Saturday, June 29, 2024

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) confirmed Joshua Okayo's rescue along with that of Regis Wanjala, another student who had also been missing.

Joshua Okayo, the president of the Kenya School of Law (KSL) Student Governing Council who was reportedly abducted by the police last Wednesday, at the peak of the anti-Finance Bill demonstrations, has been found near Margua River in Murang'a County.

Okayo, who appeared to have been tortured according to initial reports, is recuperating at Avenue Hospital in Thika. He remains under close observation due to the psychological trauma inflicted by his ordeal.

Keep reading

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) confirmed Okayo's rescue along with that of Regis Wanjala, another student who also went missing that day. Wanjala was found in a tea plantation in Ruiru.

"We have confirmation that two comrades have been dumped at unknown locations after their abductions. Joshua Okayo was dumped somewhere in Murang'a after being abducted in Rongai on Wednesday," LSK President Faith Odhiambo stated on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

"The two are safe but currently receiving medical attention and are still shaken up from the ordeal. We shall find recourse for these unfortunate actions of the police. Justice be our shield and defender."

Odhiambo has been vocal in condemning the reported police abductions, drawing chilling parallels to the authoritarian era of the late former President Daniel Moi.

"This is shocking. I feel like we are going back to the Moi era; the last we heard of abductions and torture chambers," she lamented during an appearance on Citizen TV's JKLive Show last week.

"Our country is singing about and in the region, people are praising Kenyans yet such abductions are coming back. Some of the abducted persons have been released but others remain unaccounted for," she added.

The LSK president subsequently called for the immediate release of all detained protesters and urged law enforcement authorities to be held accountable for their actions.

The council visited the DCI Headquarters at Kiambu Road for a meeting with the deputy director. We filed a formal report for investigations into the recent rampant abductions by unidentified persons believed to be a rogue faction of the police force. We emphasised our concerns… pic.twitter.com/RjwxpUuq0Z
— Law Society of Kenya (@LawSocietyofKe) June 28, 2024