Ruto urges families to report cases of missing protesters

President William Ruto has urged families of individuals who went missing during the anti-government protests to come forward and file cases with relevant investigative agencies. 

Speaking on Sunday during the Presidential Town Hall in Mombasa, Ruto assured that he would personally deal with the cases that touch on his pledge to curb enforced disappearances and or extrajudicial killings. 

"If there is any Kenyan who has disappeared, I want people to step forward and say Kenyan so and so has disappeared. I will be very happy to deal with it. Under my administration, I have said there will be no disappearance of Kenyans again. There will be no extrajudicial killing of Kenyans. I have said that with clarity," he said.

The call for action follows recent reports from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) revealing that 66 individuals were reported missing over the past five weeks of unrest.

KNCHR also reported that the death toll from the anti-government protests triggered by the withdrawn Finance Bill 2024 rose to 60, with the number of reported abductions increasing from 59 to 66 and arrests from 682 to 1,376.

In its report, the Commission said police might have used excessive force when restraining protestors during the ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

It noted that despite the continued calls for a stop to the abductions, the kidnappings, illegal arrests, and torture of innocent Kenyans are continuing.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) also noted that police officers dealing with the anti-government protesters were breaking the law by not displaying their name tags and service numbers. IPOA provides for civilian oversight over the work of the police in Kenya. 

"The police, even those in uniform, are not displaying their name tags and service numbers. And secondly, those who are in civilian clothing are also putting on hoodies, and you cannot tell who they are. We as an authority are suspecting that there is a specific unit that is being sent out there apart from the ordinary deployment to go and commit atrocities,” IPOA Commissioner John Waiganjo said.

KNCHR condemned the abductions and arrests and demanded an immediate and unconditional release of all the illegally detained persons in relation to the protests.

"The Commission has moved the court for orders of Habeas Corpus in a quest to seek accountability for missing and abducted persons. Those found guilty of the killings and injuries of innocent Kenyans, whether civilians or security agents, should be charged," KNCHR Chairperson Roseline Odede said.

Odede also emphasised that the Commission shall also pursue command responsibility for all documented instances of police brutality and excesses.

Plainclothes police officers fire teargas at protesters in Nairobi CBD, aboard an unmarked vehicle as others patrol on a police pick-up during the anti-government protests on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Photo: Hafsa Hassan)