The mother of a security analyst who was allegedly abducted four years ago has sued the government, seeking an order to compel the Inspector-General of Police, Douglas Kanja, to produce her son in court.
In the case filed under a certificate of urgency, Jane Gatwiri M'Ithinji states that she has endured psychological and emotional torture since her son, Mwenda Mbijiwe, was allegedly kidnapped by unknown people near Roysambu in Nairobi County.
On Thursday, Ms M'Ithinji and her daughter, Daisy, were in tears as they waited for the case to be heard by Justice Kanyi Kimondo at the Milimani High Court.
The case, which has been scheduled for a hearing on September 19, 2025, accuses the government of detaining Mbijiwe incommunicado for four years.
“We have looked for my son Mwenda Mbijiwe at every police station, hospital, prison and mortuary in vain. My last hope is this court,” Ms M’Ithinji says in her affidavit in support of the petition.
The suit names Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor, the Inspector-General of Police, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the National Police Service (NPS) as respondents.
Ms M’Ithinji told the court that Mbijiwe was abducted on June 12, 2021, in Nairobi while en route to Meru County. She claims that he was whisked away to undisclosed locations.
Ms Jane Gatwiri prays on June 12, 2022 to mark a year since her son Mwenda Mbijiwe disappeared.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
According to the family’s lawyer, Evans Ondieki, Mbijiwe—who had also expressed interest in the Meru gubernatorial seat—was accosted by men in civilian clothes while driving a vehicle belonging to Mr Edward Mwangi Macharia.
“Before his unconstitutional, illegal and surreptitious abduction and detention, Mbijiwe had reported death threats on his life,” Mr Ondieki says in the court pleadings.
The lawyer said that Mbijiwe had reported the threats to the Central Police Station under OB number 75/1606/2021. He added that the analyst had been seen most recently with DCI officers dressed in civilian clothes and driving unmarked vehicles, which they had allegedly used to take him away.
The lawyer further informed the court that Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Air Force officer who had undergone security training in Israel, was being detained unlawfully.
“It is only this honourable court that can intervene to salvage him,” he said.
Through Mr Ondieki, Ms M'Ithinji urged the court to certify the matter as urgent and order the Inspector-General of Police to produce her son in court, dead or alive.
“That this honourable court be pleased to direct the IG, AG, DCI, DPP, and NPS—either jointly or individually—to immediately present Mbijiwe, dead or alive, before court,” she pleads.
She is also seeking the court's assistance in ordering his immediate and unconditional release from "unlawful custody".
The distraught mother argues that her son’s prolonged detention is unjustified and unconstitutional, and cannot be tolerated in a democratic society governed by the rule of law.
She adds that, if the security agencies believe that Mbijiwe has committed a crime, due process should be followed and he should be prosecuted in court.
