Mystery as Sakaja aide Osman Khalif abducted in broad daylight
Yasmin Osman (centre), wife of Osman Abdi Khalif, briefing the media at Parklands Police Station on November 11, 2023, where she had gone to report her husband's disappearance.
Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja's key handyman and key liaison person, Osman Khalif Abdi, was on Friday evening abducted by unknown people outside one of the biggest malls in Nairobi.
Osman Khalif who is the immediate former South C Ward MCA is said to have been taken by five unidentified people who were armed as his wife watched in vain.
Speaking to the media outside Parklands Police Station, where the case was reported, his brother Yasin Khalif speaking on behalf of the family said that 24 hours after reporting his abduction they are yet to get any answers from the authorities.
“After my sister-in-law called me yesterday we came and reported the matter at Parklands Police Station and 24 hours later no one has spoken to us. What is surprising is that he was using it yesterday, when we came back at the police station on Saturday morning it was parked here and no one has explained to us how it got here,” he said.
According to Yasin, his brother was taken by people who were driving a double-cabin motor vehicle registration number KCT 163H. “They had pistols with them and they refused to identify themselves. Up to now, we have no idea where my brother is,” he added.
He appealed to the government to help them locate his missing brother.
His wife, Yasmin Osman, who was distraught could barely explain what happened. All she said was that the incident had shocked the family.
They added that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja was aware of what was happening, but unfortunately, he is out of the country.
The family, through lawyer Oringe Waswa said they will be seeking an order to have the Inspector General of Police produce the missing man in court on Tuesday.
‘We are going to file under a certificate of urgency a habeas Corpus application to have the court order the state to have police produce my client,” he said.
They also will be applying to have the mall where he was abducted release footage of his abduction. “My client was abducted at Sarit Centre, which is one of the busiest malls in the country and we will seek a court order to have them produce footage of his abduction,” he added.
The nation reached out to Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei on the abduction but said that he was not aware and promised to get back. By the time of going to press he was yet to get back.
Abdi served as the MCA for South C ward from 2017 but was defeated by Abbas Khalif of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in last year's general election.
