High Court Urged to Force Kenyan Government to Reveal Fate of Missing Security Analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe

Nairobi, Kenya - In a desperate bid for answers after more than four years of anguish, the family of security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe has turned to the High Court in Nairobi, demanding that the Kenyan government produce him dead or alive. Filed as an urgent habeas corpus application, the petition accuses top state security agencies of abducting Mbijiwe in a brazen operation and then stonewalling all inquiries into his whereabouts. The case, certified as a matter of extreme urgency, highlights what petitioners describe as a shocking assault on fundamental human rights and the rule of law.

Mbijiwe, a respected security analyst known for his incisive commentary on national issues, vanished without a trace on June 12, 2021. He was last seen driving a silver Toyota Premio sedan registered as KCN 641K, which belonged to his friend Edward Mwangi Mucharia. The vehicle had been lent to him for a trip from Nairobi to Meru County. Witnesses in the bustling Roysambu area of Kasarani Constituency reported a chaotic scene that afternoon: unmarked vehicles suddenly blocked Mbijiwe's path, and a group of men in plainclothes, believed to be officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), forced him out of the car at gunpoint. They bundled him into one of the waiting vehicles and sped off, leaving the abandoned sedan behind. No formal arrest was made, no charges were filed, and no official record of the incident has ever surfaced from the authorities.

The circumstances surrounding Mbijiwe's disappearance point to a targeted operation linked to his professional work. Just two days prior, on June 10, 2021, he had appeared on Muuga FM, a local radio station, where he openly discussed highly sensitive topics related to national security. These revelations, according to his family, may have crossed lines that powerful interests preferred to keep obscured. Adding to the red flags, Mbijiwe had taken proactive steps to protect himself in the lead-up to the incident. On June 16, 2021, mere days before he went missing, he visited Central Police Station in Nairobi to report receiving chilling death threats. The report was logged under Occurrence Book (OB) number 75/16/06/2021, yet police follow-up appears to have been nonexistent.

Now, the family, led by relatives and represented by Jane Gatwiri M'ithinji acting on Mbijiwe's behalf, has filed a Miscellaneous Criminal Application under the watchful eye of the law firm Ondieki & Ondieki Advocates. Advocate Evans Ondieki, who swore the supporting affidavit, detailed the harrowing timeline in court documents. The respondents named in the suit read like a who's who of Kenya's security apparatus: the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the DCI, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the National Police Service as a whole. The petitioners argue that the state's utter silence on Mbijiwe's fate is not mere negligence but a deliberate cover-up that mocks the very foundations of justice.

At the heart of the application lies a invocation of Kenya's Constitution and legal safeguards designed to prevent such abuses. The family cites Articles 25(d), 28, 29, and 51(2), which enshrine the right to freedom and security of the person, dignity, protection from torture and cruel treatment, and safeguards against arbitrary detention or deportation. They also lean on Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code, empowering the court to issue a writ of habeas corpus to compel the production of anyone held unlawfully. In stark terms, the affidavit paints the prolonged vanishing as a blatant disregard for constitutionalism, warning that without judicial intervention, these violations will fester unchecked.

What the court grants could be transformative. If successful, the order would force the respondents to either present Mbijiwe in open court or immediately secure his release from any hidden custody. Failure to comply could trigger contempt charges, potentially dragging high-ranking officials into the dock. Should the state claim ignorance of his detention, as is often the case in such matters, the ruling might pave the way for a full-blown criminal probe into the alleged abduction itself, scrutinizing the roles of plainclothes operatives and command structures within the security forces.

This is not an isolated cry for help; it echoes a troubling pattern of enforced disappearances in Kenya, where critics, activists, and analysts have repeatedly fallen prey to shadowy state tactics. Mbijiwe's case, however, stands out for its documented prelude: the radio broadcast that may have sealed his fate and the preemptive police report that underscores his foresight. As the family waits in limbo, haunted by unanswered questions and the daily erosion of hope, the eyes of human rights advocates turn to the High Court. Will it summon the courage to pierce the veil of secrecy, or will another voice in the wilderness fade into official oblivion? The urgency of the filing suggests the bench has little room for delay, with proceedings expected to unfold swiftly in the coming weeks. For now, Mwenda Mbijiwe remains a ghost in the system he once sought to illuminate.