Steven Mbisi Kavingo, one of the four missing men.
The High Court has declined to compel Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to release two young men who have been missing since December 2024.
Dismissing the application, Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled that the petitioners have failed to show that the police were holding Stephen Mbisi Kavingo and Kelvin Muthoni, who have been missing since December, after they were allegedly abducted by persons believed to be police officers.
Five of the youths who had also been named in the petition have since been released and re-united with their families.
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They are Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Bernard Kavuli, Gideon Kibet and Rony Kiplang’at.
The judge said the issues raised in the petition by Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission and Kituo Cha Sheria among others, would better be determined after hearing the main case.
The petitioners had filed a habeas corpus application, seeking to compel the government to release the two missing men, pending the determination of the case.
“This court comes to the conclusion that the petitioners have failed to satisfy the court by discharging the burden of proof that the missing men are in the custody of the respondents,” said the judge.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye during a court proceeding at Milimani Law Court on December 18, 2024.
The court added that the petitioners had also failed to prove to the required legal standards that the missing two were within the jurisdiction of the court and that they were being held illegally by the police.
The judge added that court orders cannot be issued in vain and the issues raised in the petition would better be addressed after hearing the main case.
The court further dismissed an application seeking to compel the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to produce the official records of the vehicles captured on camera, allegedly showing persons believed to be police officers, carrying out abductions.
Justice Mwamuye said the parties will have a chance of presenting their side of the story, during the hearing of the case.
The LSK said in the petition that the abductions were conducted in broad daylight, some under the glare of CCTV footage.
“The abductions have been conducted by men who conceal their identities by wearing civilian clothes, hoodies and face masks with motor vehicles normally linked to police operations," the petition stated
LSK further said motor vehicles bear fake number plates, a clear ploy to disguise and conceal their identity as they whisk away their victims to unknown destinations.
The petition added that despite the abductions being reported at various police stations, the police boss issued a contradictory statement where on one hand he claimed that there was no police station in the country that was holding the reported abductees, while on the hand admitting that the matter in question was Independent Policing Oversight Authority.
The petition added that the abductions have caused pain, anguish and despair among family members and a huge public outcry by members of the public, religious organisation groups and the political class.
