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Court to rule on missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe ‘dead or alive’ petition
Security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe who went missing on June 12, 2021.
The Milimani High Court will on May 13, 2026, rule on whether the police should be compelled to produce missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe in court, dead or alive, nearly five years after his disappearance.
Justice Martin Muya set the judgment date after all parties in the case, including Mr Mbijiwe’s mother Jane Gatwiri, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the Inspector General of Police, concluded presenting their arguments.
Ms Gatwiri, through her lawyer, Evans Ondieki, told the court that her son disappeared in Roysambu in 2021 while in the company of people she believes were police officers in civilian clothing.
“I urge this court to allow my plea and compel the police to produce my son in court, dead or alive,” she said.
Jane Gatwiri (left), mother of Mwenda Mbijiwe, who was allegedly abducted in 2021 at the Milimani High Court on April 20, 2026.
The petition seeks orders against Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and the DCI, whom the family accuses of failing to account for Mr Mbijiwe’s whereabouts since his disappearance.
However, police lawyer Paul Nyamondi argued that the family had not proved that Mr Mbijiwe had been arrested or detained by police.
“The petitioner has failed to demonstrate that the missing person was ever in police custody,” Mr Nyamondi told the court.
The court noted that final submissions had not been uploaded into the e-filing system when the matter came up for mention.
Mr Nyamondi said he had filed the submissions electronically, but they had not reflected in the system, prompting him to hand a hard copy to the court. Mr Ondieki was said to be engaged at the Eldoret High Court.
During the hearing, police denied any involvement in Mr Mbijiwe’s disappearance.
Chief Inspector Fredrick Okeyo, the third investigating officer assigned to the case, told the court he had no evidence linking police officers to the alleged abduction or killing.
He dismissed claims that Mr Mbijiwe was killed by police and his body dumped in River Yala, fed to crocodiles at Masinga Dam, or buried in the Shakahola mass graves.
Inspector Okeyo also rejected allegations that police had introduced a woman, Fridah Gacheri Ntoiti, to support claims that Mr Mbijiwe may have died in a love triangle.
He, however, confirmed that a controversial police squad known as “Kwekwe” once existed before it was disbanded amid accusations of brutality and extrajudicial killings.
The court further heard that Mr Mbijiwe’s mobile phone is allegedly being used by the wife of a senior security officer, raising fresh questions about the circumstances of his disappearance.
Police were also accused of failing to obtain key call data records from Safaricom despite a court order directing the telecommunications company to release information that could help trace Mr Mbijiwe’s last known contacts.
Inspector Okeyo told the court that the service provider had declined to release the records.
Investigators also revealed that the vehicle Mr Mbijiwe had been driving was found abandoned near Tatu City, outside CCTV surveillance coverage.
The car was later released to its owner, prison officer Edward Mwangi Macharia, without forensic fingerprint analysis being conducted.
The court heard that little progress had been made in investigations between June 12, 2021, when Mr Mbijiwe vanished, and August 2025, when his mother filed the current case.
Ms Gatwiri has maintained that her son is being unlawfully detained by police.
She also told the court that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua allegedly assured her in 2022 that her son would be released once President William Ruto took office.
