Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga wants President William Ruto's government to move quickly to end the incessant abduction of Kenyans, saying the country cannot tolerate a "gangster state".
Mr Odinga raised concerns about the identity of the abductors, suggesting that they resembled police officers rather than civilians.
In an exclusive interview on Citizen Television on Friday evening, the opposition leader noted that the abductions were despicable and "an affront to the rule of law in our country".
“These are very dangerous developments. It’s like a mafia state where you are not sure yourself. You see young people being abducted and there are even video clips of people who are so confident. They look like police officers in civilian clothes but they really know what they are doing and they are taking people to unknown destinations and torturing them from the revelations of those who have been released,” said Mr Odinga.
“They have handcuffs, these are not goods where you can go to a supermarket and buy. They are special and only owned by the State. Who are these people with handcuffs and have the confidence to abduct people in front of others in broad daylight?” Mr Odinga posed.
He said Kenyans could not allow gangs similar to the historic Tonton Macoute paramilitary force in Haiti to operate in the country.
“They resemble the gang of general Papa Doc Duvalier and his Tonton Macoute paramilitary force who used to abduct people and torture them. So this is like a state of gangsters and is not something we can tolerate in our country,” he charged.
He warned that Kenya must not be allowed to slip back into the era of abductions and torture, as happened in the Nyayo torture chambers.
“In our days they used to arrest people, blind fold you and bundle you in a vehicle, move around with you and end up in the Nyayo House dungeon where they would put you in a water logged sell to freeze. You are taken and clobbered, eyes covered, you are interrogated and they extract confessions from you then you are taken to court and sentenced. We thought that era was gone,” said Mr Odinga.
In the Citizen TV interview, he recalled spending two weeks in the Nyayo torture chambers, while some people even spent months.
“So I’m a graduate of that and I don’t want this to come back again. I don’t want to see people being molested merely because they hold different opinion from you. Democracy is that people are free to think and conceive ideas which do not necessarily conform to the thinking of the regime,” the former prime minister said.
He advised the state to find legal ways to deal with social media instead of using underhand tactics to suppress its users.
“This animal called social media is a new animal but challenging governments across the world. So, you just need to find a way of dealing with it.
“These are realities of technological evolution and we must embrace them and see how we can live in an orderly society,” Mr Odinga said.
President Ruto promised on Friday that his government would put an end to reported abductions, even as he urged Kenyan parents to take responsibility for bringing up their children to be credible citizens.
"We all want to go together. I want to urge all parents that our children are a blessing from God and you should take care of them and the government will do our part. And what has been said about abduction matters; we will stop it. So that Kenya's youth can live in peace and have discipline so that we can build Kenya together)," Dr Ruto said in Homa Bay.
He was speaking when he was accompanied by Mr Odinga to the Genowa Governor's Cup 2024 final at the Raila Odinga Stadium in Homa Bay County, hosted by Governor Gladys Wanga.
However, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has denied allegations linking police officers to the recent wave of abductions of young Kenyans.
In a statement on December 26, Mr Kanja assured the public that no police station in the country was holding anyone reportedly abducted.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the National Police Service is not involved in any abductions, and there is no police station in the country detaining the reported abductees," he said.
