Security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe who went missing on June 12, 2021.
A detective on Tuesday told the High Court of Kenya that police are not covering up the disappearance and suspected killing of security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe five years ago.
While being cross-examined by lawyers representing Mbijiwe’s family, Chief Inspector Fredrick Okeyo said he was not aware that the former Kenya Air Force pilot had been killed by police and his body dumped in River Yala, fed to crocodiles at Masinga Dam or secretly buried in Shakahola.
However, Inspector Okeyo confirmed before the judge hearing the case seeking the production of Mbijiwe “dead or alive” that there had existed a police unit known as “Kwekwe”, which was later disbanded after being accused of terrorising members of the public, brutality and carrying out extrajudicial killings of people perceived to oppose the government.
Inspector Okeyo, the third investigating officer assigned to probe Mbijiwe’s disappearance, said he was also unaware of allegations that a container at the National Police Service headquarters was used to detain and kill government critics before their bodies were allegedly crushed and taken to feed crocodiles at Masinga Dam in Machakos County.
Responding to questions from lawyers Evans Ondieki and Denis Oyaro, the officer denied claims that police were covering up the disappearance.
He also rejected allegations that investigators had introduced a woman, Fridah Gacheri Ntoiti, to suggest that Mbijiwe may have been killed as a result of a love triangle.
Justice Martin Muya further heard that Mbijiwe’s mobile phone is currently being used by the wife of a senior security officer.
Police were also accused of failing to obtain call data records for Mbijiwe’s phone from Safaricom which could reveal the last people he communicated with before his disappearance.
Inspector Okeyo said the telecommunications company had declined to release the information despite a court order requiring it to provide the data.
Jane Gatwiri, mother to Mwenda Mbijiwe.
The officer also admitted that investigators failed to conduct fingerprint analysis on the vehicle that Mbijiwe was driving when he was allegedly abducted by men in civilian clothes.
The court heard that the vehicle was later found abandoned a short distance from Tatu City, in an area not covered by CCTV cameras.
Justice Muya heard that the car was eventually released to its owner, Edward Mwangi Macharia, a prison officer, without any forensic examination being carried out.
“Did police dust the vehicle for fingerprints?” lawyer Mr Ondieki asked.
“No,” the officer responded.
He explained that at the time the vehicle was recovered, no missing person report had been filed regarding Mbijiwe.
Police then returned the vehicle to Mr Macharia after he claimed that the person who had hired it, allegedly Mbijiwe, had not completed payment.
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The court further heard that investigators had conducted little or no inquiries into Mbijiwe’s whereabouts between June 12, 2021, when he disappeared and August 2025 when his mother Jane Gatwiri filed the current case seeking orders compelling the Inspector-General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to produce her son in court.
Security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe who went missing on June 12, 2021.
Inspector Okeyo, who was led in his testimony by lawyer Paul Nyamondi representing the Inspector-General and the DCI, claimed that Mbijiwe’s mother had never filed a missing person report at any police station.
He accused Ms Gatwiri of failing to cooperate with investigators.
However, the claim was challenged by Mr Ondieki, who told the court that at least five reports about Mbijiwe’s disappearance had been filed at police stations in Maua, Lang’ata, Central Nairobi and Nairobi West and circulated to other stations within Nairobi.
Security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe (centre) is said to have disappeared alongside Mathew Muhatia Namasaka; a robbery suspect with many court cases.
Ms Gatwiri has consistently maintained that her son is being detained by police.
When she testified earlier in the case, she told the court that former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had assured her in 2022 that her son would be released once President William Ruto assumed office.
Meanwhile, Mr Macharia, the owner of the vehicle Mbijiwe was driving at the time of the alleged abduction, failed to attend court to testify as earlier directed.
Justice Muya said Mr Macharia’s testimony would be crucial to the case.
“The testimony of Mr Macharia is very crucial in this case since he is an eyewitness,” the judge said.
The court heard that when Mbijiwe was allegedly abducted by plain-clothes security agents driving unmarked vehicles on June 12, 2021, he was driving the vehicle owned by Mr Macharia.
The case was adjourned to April 20, 2026, for further hearing.
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