Family of missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe wants Gov’t compelled to produce him ‘dead or alive’

The family of missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe, who disappeared four years ago, has moved to court seeking orders compelling the government to either produce him in court dead or alive or release him unconditionally.

In an urgent application filed at the Milimani High Court, Jane Gatwiri M’Ithinji, the mother of the missing analyst, is asking the court to direct the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigations, and other security agencies to immediately and unconditionally present her son before the court.

The application that has been certified as extremely urgent also seeks that the matter be heard ex parte in the first instance.

It further seeks that the government be compelled to present Mbijiwe dead or alive, before the court to be dealt with according to the law, or alternatively, that they immediately and unconditionally release him from what the family describes as unlawful and illegal custody.

In an affidavit, Gatwiri narrates that her son was abducted on June 12, 2021, around Roysambu in Nairobi, while en route to Meru County.

She claims that he was whisked away by men believed to be security officers who were not in uniform and were driving an unmarked vehicle.

The family alleges that Mbijiwe had earlier reported threats to his life and that his last public appearance was during a Muuga FM radio interview on June 10, 2021, where he discussed national security matters.

“The said detention is illegal, irregular, and unlawful and cannot be justified in a democratic society that believes in the rule of law and constitutionalism,” the family argues in the application.

They further state that the continued disappearance of Mbijiwe violates his constitutional rights to liberty, health, and freedom of movement, and that the state should be compelled to disclose his whereabouts.

The case is expected to be mentioned tomorrow before the High Court in Nairobi for further directions.

Mwenda Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Air Force officer and security consultant, went missing in 2021 under mysterious circumstances, with his car later found abandoned near Nyeri.

Seven months after his disappearance, his brother Nicholas Bundi, in a bid to pile pressure on authorities, chose to carry out a symbolic walk from Meru County to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi to raise awareness about the family's plight as they awaited news on their missing loved one.