BBC News, Nairobi
The reported disappearance of more than 80 government critics in the past six months has caused a major public backlash in Kenya.
A judge has warned that he will jail top security officials in contempt of court on Monday if they do not appear for a third time to explain the recent spate of alleged kidnappings.
The case is linked to disappearances documented by Kenya’s National Human Rights Commission since protests began across the country against proposed tax increases in June.
At least 24 are said to still be missing.
Police and the government deny the kidnapping and illegally detain protesters, but the country has a history of state-sponsored kidnappings, and some Kenyans fear a return to that dark past.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin were ordered to produce in court seven social media influencers who disappeared in December.
Five suddenly reappeared in early January in various locations around the country.
Lawyers Mr. Kanje asked the court for more time to record their statements and submit a report.
Billy Mwangi is one of the five. The 24-year-old was dumped 75km (46 miles) from his hometown in Embo, central Kenya, by his alleged kidnappers in an apparent act of intimidation.
Billy’s father, Gerald Mwangi Karicha, told the BBC his son was traumatised.
“The boy didn’t share much,” he said. “All I can say is that when he came in, he wasn’t his usual self. He looked like he was in shock.”
Billy, a student who has been a vocal critic of the government on social media, he went missing on December 21, 2024 while at a barber shop in Embu.
According to witnesses, the hooded men arrived in a Toyota Fielder and double cab pick-up, packed it into one of the vehicles and drove away.
Within hours, his family’s worst fears began to unfold.
“Most weekends, we watch football together. His club is Chelsea; mine is Arsenal,” Gerald said.
He called Billy to discuss a football game on the evening of his disappearance, only to find his son’s phone.
The barber shop owner later informed him of the abduction, sparking a frantic search.
Billy’s mother was devastated when she heard the news and the weeks that followed were harrowing for the family.
As soon as he was found, Billy was taken to the hospital for a routine checkup. His family says he is still recovering from the trauma, but the release has brought him some measure of relief.
Like many who have resurfaced after alleged abductions, Billy has said little about his ordeal, perhaps out of fear.
Jamil and Aslam Longton also remained silent after their release in September from 32 days in captivity.
The brothers were warned, says Jamil, that they would be killed if they went to the media.
Three months later, a government official publicly called their case a lawful arrest.
The siblings took this as confirmation that a government agency was responsible for what she had gone through and found the courage to speak out.
“The constitution of Kenya is very clear,” says Jamil. “You should be arrested and brought to court within 24 hours. Ours was 32 days. He never got us a lawyer to represent us anywhere.
“We were not allowed to see our family or communicate with our family. So this is not an arrest, this is a kidnapping.”
The brothers told the BBC that Aslam had helped organize protests against tax increases in the town of Kitengela, near the capital Nairobi, and security agents had warned to stop his activism.
One day in August, the two were dragged into a car by the side of the house, hooded and handcuffed, and taken to an unknown location where they were held in small, dark cells.
Aslam says he was regularly beaten, and his tormentor demanded to know who was financing the protests.
“I was very scared,” he says. “When the door opened, a man would come with a fiber cable and a metal rod.
“I was afraid he had beaten me or finished me off – there were only two options for him to beat me or kill me.”
Jamil describes their abductors as being heavily armed, able to track their cellphones and confident enough to pick them up in broad daylight, operating with the level of resources and degree of flexibility that human rights groups have reported in many cases.
But that does not mean they are official security operatives, says government spokesman Isaac Mwaura, denying the state is behind the kidnappings.
“Organized security can also be part of organized crime,” he told the BBC.
“It could also be for political reasons … our political threats have really raised the issue. They are actually only trying to deal with political results.”
Mr Mwaura declined to comment The case of government minister Justin Muturione of the most important indictments of Kenyan security agencies.
Muturi says his son was picked up by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and released only after he complained directly to President William Ruto.
“It is a matter of investigation, because that is his side of the story,” Mr Mwaura said. “But what is the National Intelligence Service’s counter story?
“I would like to say categorically that the President of the Republic of Kenya, who is the head of government, has not sanctioned any form of kidnapping, because he is a man who believes in the rule of law.”
In fact, Ruto publicly promised to stop the kidnappings, forced to respond to public anger and concern from Western allies.
Many are troubled by the seemingly systematic disappearance of anti-government activists, recalling similar methods under the authoritarian leadership of Daniel Arap Moi in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gitobu Imanyara, a journalist and activist who ran for multi-party politics in the early 1990s, was arrested and beaten by the Moi regime. He has no doubt that he is now seeing “Moi Playbook” in action.
But, he says, times have changed. The constitutional amendments established multiple accountability mechanisms and “there is a larger segment of Kenyan society that will not be intimidated”.
“The democratic space has expanded so much that the government cannot want democratic dissenting voices,” he told the BBC.
Plus, with social media, “Word spreads almost instantly,” he said.
“We can’t censor ourselves the way we censored ourselves in the days when we could only use landlines.”
Reports of disappearances have decreased in recent weeks.
But despite the announcement of police investigations, no one has been charged, let alone convicted, for presenting them.
Several advocacy groups have petitioned the Attorney General to refer kidnapping cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As for the families of those still missing, the nightmare continues.
“We are so depressed, so devastated,” said Stacey Mutua, the sister of Steve Mbisi, one of the seven who disappeared in December.
“We hope they will release him. [Most] They were released from the kidnapping, but he is still missing. We pray they will find him. “
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