Kenyan police on Thursday vehemently denied any involvement in a recent wave of abductions targeting government critics.
Denial comes amidst mounting pressure from human rights groups and international observers who have accused security forces of carrying out numerous illegal detentions since anti-government protests erupted earlier this year.
Human Rights Watch recently published a report alleging the existence of a clandestine unit comprised of officers from various security agencies, including military intelligence and an anti-terrorism unit, responsible for these disappearances.
The latest victims include several young social media users who openly criticized President William Ruto’s administration. Peter Muteti, Billy Mwangi, and Bernard Kavuli, all in their early 20s, vanished over the weekend.
Reports also indicate the abduction of a fourth individual.
Witnesses claim Muteti was forcibly taken by a group of men, one of whom was in police uniform, outside a shop in the Nairobi suburb of Uthiru. Mwangi and Muteti had recently shared AI-generated images depicting the president’s death.
The Independent Police Oversight Authority has launched investigations into these incidents.
Meanwhile, the Police Reforms Working Group has demanded the government to immediately disclose the whereabouts of the missing individuals, ensure their safety, and either present them before a court of law or release them unconditionally.
Despite the police’s denial, they have offered no concrete leads regarding the perpetrators of these abductions. The Kenya National Commission for Human Rights has documented at least 74 kidnappings since the protests, with 26 individuals still unaccounted for.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who recently formed a governing alliance with President Ruto, has also condemned these abductions, describing them as “primitive.”