Former Interior Cabinet Secretary and 2027 presidential hopeful Fred Matiang’i has defended himself regarding the extrajudicial and forceful disappearances regarding the River Yala body dumping cases before leaving office in 2022.

The news of locals finding bodies tied up in sacks floating in the Yala River, in western Kenya, drew attention from human rights workers and families of missing persons in early 2022, with security agencies vowing to unravel the mystery.

However, three years down the line, little has been made public regarding the perpetrators behind the killings at the time when Fred Matiang’i was leading the Interior docket. Speaking on a local radio interview on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Matiang’i said he did his best at the time to come up with answers, hinting that it is the responsibility of the present government to conclude the investigations.

Matiang’i clears air

Matiang’i said security challenges are everywhere in the world, and governments should rely on investigative pointers to seek the truth.

”Even in the United States or the UK, security incidents will happen. Someone would be murdered by either a police officer or a criminal, or something would go wrong somewhere. Where the line is drawn is where investigations are done, and as I said, every time I was in the Ministry of Interior, we got the direction investigation pointers. In cases where we have murders or criminal activities that have not been resolved in our country to this day, in some cases, files are still open; in some, I have personally called out for public enquiry,” Matiang’i said.

Defending himself, Matiang’i added that he appeared before the House Security Committee to shed light on the matter, adding that in some cases, victims of River Yala could be returnees of Al-Shabaab trainings in the coastal regions and parts of North Eastern Kenya.

Collaborative efforts

”I pushed for investigations; I was going through records on this issue of extrajudicial killings and disappearances; I checked in my diary and discovered that I appeared before the Security Committee in Parliament three or four times on this matter. In some cases, it has to do with returnees from Al-Shabaab training on the coast and parts of North Eastern Kenya,” Matiang’i said.

”Where there is doubt, and where there is missing information, disappearances and loss of life, it is the responsibility of the government to conclude the investigations.” He concluded.

Meanwhile, cases of missing persons in Kenya have been on the rise since 2022. The situation got worse during the period of anti-government protests in 2024, when families reported cases of missing loved ones.