When will abductions and police brutality come to an end?

Police officers forcefully arrest a protester during the Gen Z protest anniversary in Nairobi on June 25, 2026. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

What is more astonishing? Seven citizens allegedly abducted, unlawfully detained and tortured after a march honouring victims of police brutality on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture or that the Interior  Principal Secretary insisting no enforced disappearances have taken place under President William Ruto’s administration?

 Last week’s column highlighted the mothers who courageously led the June 25 memorial march. In so doing they continue the long tradition of women driving Kenya’s most liberatory of struggles.

The full extent of the state violence that followed was not yet known. Several protesters were assaulted that day, including Marvin Mabonga, who was hospitalised after being trailed and attacked outside his home.

Two weeks earlier, Liston Bahati suffered a similar attack and now requires urgent jaw surgery after joining a press conference calling for the compensation programme to be expedited.

 According to KNCHR, 361 people were arrested across 11 counties. They included 18 human rights defenders, two journalists, and one person with a disability.

At least seven peaceful protesters Ojiro Odhiambo, Michael Ngige (Jomo Kenyatta Junior), Muteti Mulinge, Collins Ochieng, Elijah Alam, Christine Walubengo, and Davis Lichuma by their own statements were removed from police custody and handed over to security agents.

The agents subjected them to torture, solitary confinement, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in undisclosed detention facilities for between 48 and 72 hours. Meanwhile, concern continued to grow over the disappearances of Michael Oloo, MacMillan Kiarie and Abdulaziz Molu Duba, who remain missing.

 Under Kenyan and international law, enforced disappearances, torture, and denial of fair trial rights are serious crimes.

Since the Kenya Kwanza government came to power in 2022, successive UN Human Rights Council reviews have documented enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and excessive use of force by Kenyan security agencies. Equally troubling is the persistent impunity and poor enforcement of existing laws.

 UN recommendations to criminalise enforced disappearance, fully enforce anti-torture laws, and independently investigate and prosecute abuses have largely been ignored. Instead of strengthening oversight and accountability bodies, the Executive has increased funding to agencies implicated in these violations.

 Kenyan courts have repeatedly found the state liable for using excessive force against protesters, arbitrary arrests, pre-trial detention, and denying suspects access to lawyers, family members, and medical care. These practices undermine the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

 In the 45 months since the government took office, 86 people have been forcibly disappeared according to the Missing Voices Alliance. “Disappearances” are no longer just NGO statistics. They have become part of our everyday vocabulary and daily fear.

In this context, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo’s claim that no abductions have occurred under President Ruto’s watch and victims had abducted themselves is impossible to take seriously.

His flat denial directly contradicts his President’s pledge to end abductions on 27 December 2024 and his immediate boss Kipchumba Murkomen’s declaration on 25 May 2025 that all abducted persons had been returned home.

 It is possible that memories are selective (privilege can do this), but it has been less than 15 days since the President publicly received a detailed report documenting 35 cases of enforced disappearances.

By dismissing the brave testimonies of survivors, cries of their families, reports by human rights groups, media and United Nations. and his own Principal’s promise, he has further wounded his own credibility and that of the government he serves.

 The recent abuses have thrust enforced disappearances back into another mainstream political scandal. Ironically, instead of marking 26 June, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture by implementing UN recommendations and court rulings, the government has presided over another wave of disappearances. In so doing, enforced disappearance and torture has become one of the defining human rights and political issues of Kenya’s emerging Third Liberation era.

 We must continue to ask. Where is Michael Oloo, MacMillan Kiarie and Abdulaziz Molu Duba. If even the President’s own security agencies disregard his pledge to end abductions, why should the public believe him. Lastly and more importantly, when will these abuses come to an end?