DCI refutes claims of police involvement in Kitengela three disappearances

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Amin Mohamed, has disputed claims linking the National Police Service (NPS) to any abduction cases, including the alleged disappearance of three individuals from Kitengela.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Amin said the NPS is not holding the missing trio and emphasised that abduction is a serious offence under the penal code.

“We have received a couple of complaints that certain people have been abducted, including the so-called Kitengela three. We have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that the matter is investigated and it is still under active investigation. So mine is to reiterate that as officers of the National Police Service, we are not holding the so-called Kitengela three. They are not in our custody,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that we have received a lot of complaints regarding abductions. The National Police Service is not involved in any case of abduction. Our duty and responsibility is to make sure that whoever is involved in abduction is apprehended and taken to court, and to also ensure that the abductees are saved and we bring them back alive.”

He noted that the NPS's duty is to ensure that law and order is maintained and to enforce all laws and regulations.

“Abduction is a penal code offence, an offence that we as officers of the National Police Service, are supposed to deal with it decisively, investigate, profile and take the perpetrators or whoever is involved in abduction before court,” he said.

He said any person who is arrested by officers of the National Police Service is taken to a gazetted police post and not any other place.

“We don't have any other detention facility. We don't detain them. We apprehend them if they are capable and we process and take them before court. If they are not capable, and investigation exonerates them, then we release them,” he said.

“So that matter of the Kitengela three is under investigation. We have received the report, and officers are working day and night to make sure that they are found.”

Inspector General Douglas Kanja also weighed in on the matter, confirming that an investigation into the Kitengela abductions is underway.

“We don’t have the Kitengela three with us. A report was made, and we have an active investigation ongoing. We are urging the people of Kenya with any information on the same to come forward,” Kanja said.

The disappearance of the two siblings and an activist in Kitengela has landed Deputy Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli in trouble after he failed to appear before the court to shed light on the matter.

High Court Justice Lawrence Mugambi sentenced Masengeli to six months in jail for contempt of court after defying six summons related to the abduction of three individuals.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected Masengeli’s appeal to suspend his jail term, with the sentence set to begin this Friday, September 20, 2024.