The High Court has ordered the Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohamed Amin to produce in court four friends, who disappeared from Mlolongo in Machakos County on December 16 and 17, 2024, dead or alive.
Justice Chacha Mwita on Wednesday directed Mr Kanja and Mr Amin to produce Mr Martin Zyuko Mwau, Mr Kalani Mwema, Mr Steven Mbisi Kavingo, and Mr Justus Mutumwa Musyimi by January 13, 2025.
Justice Mwita issued the directive following a certificate of urgency application by the Law Society of Kenya, which submitted that they were unlawfully being detained by security agencies.
"That a conservatory order is hereby issued directing the Inspector-General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in their official and personal capacities to immediately and unconditionally release Martin Zyuko Mwau, Kalani Mwema, Steven Mbisi Kavingo, and Justus Mutumwa Musyimi,” the order reads in part.
Justice Mwita also warned that any disobedience or non-observance of the order would result in personal consequences “to you and any other person(s)”.
The four friends, aged between 29 and 35, disappeared from Mlolongo and have not either been seen or heard from since.
According to their families, they went missing in quick succession under unclear circumstances.
Their friends last saw Mr Mutumwa, Mr Zyuko, and Mr Mwema at a local joint on the evening of December 15, 2024, and were all in a jovial mood.
They said that the three left their houses on the morning of December 15, 2024, to go to their respective businesses and places of work never to be seen again.
Mr Mbisi, 33, on the other hand, was last seen on Tuesday morning before he was allegedly picked up by four masked men from his house in Kathagaita area, according to his wife.
When the Nation visited the area on Tuesday, Mr Mbisi’s room remained locked.
His wife, whose name was withheld for safety reasons, said that her husband was in the washer while she was in the bedroom when she heard commotion.
On checking, she met four masked men who were armed and ordered her to go back to the bedroom.
“Tuesday morning is when he was picked by the four men who had masks and all carrying guns. One of the men ordered me to back to the bedroom and lie down and not to look at them,” she recalled.
From the shower, she said, her husband was ordered to wear clothes quickly before they took him away. She has since left Mlolongo after the ordeal.
A neighbour who said he witnessed the suspected abduction described how Mr Mbisi was bundled into a waiting car before it sped off.
“There were four men, one of them was wearing blue, another one pink, and there was also one wearing red. They picked him up and bundled him in the waiting car. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures or record because it looked like something that was urgent as they sped off,” he said.
Mr Ndeti Mwau, older brother of Mr Zyuko, 35, and a father of three, said that after getting information about his brother’s disappearance, he went and reported him as missing at Mlolongo Police Station and was issued with OB No. 58/21/12/24.
Twenty-two days later, police still have no answers on his whereabouts.
“I was called by his wife at around 10am and told me that he had not been seen at the boda boda stand. When I called both his lines, they were switched off,” he said.
For Ms Susan Nduge Mwema, Kalani’s sister, they had spoken a few days earlier and had plans to meet that week when she received news that her younger brother had gone missing.
They also reported the matter to Mlolongo Police Station under OB No. 47/26/12/24, and they have been searching for him in vain.
“We have visited police stations, hospitals, and mortuaries in Mlolongo, Machakos, and also in Nairobi counties and we are yet to find him,” she said.
Before his disappearance, Mr Kalani used to sell bags in Mlolongo.
Mr Dancun Kyalo Mwema described his younger brother as a hard-working family man and a father of two who used to sell land in the area.
He wondered why someone would target him, and all he wanted for the sake of the family was his safe return.
“We will do anything to have him back with us. I beg those holding him to please return him to us and end this agony which has left our parents sick. If it's the ransom you want, we are ready to pay. Please release him,” he said.
He revealed that his mother developed health complications on receiving news of her son’s abduction, and is still admitted to hospital.
They have since reported the matter at DCI headquarters in Athi River Police Station and issued with OB No. 23/21/12/24.
Despite these families reporting the incidents, the police claim they have no information on their whereabouts and are investigating the incidents.
