Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

A human rights lobby has urged the government to establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate rogue law enforcement units.

Speaking at a press briefing in Nairobi yesterday, Haki Africa executive director Hussein Khalid implicated the Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forestry Service, Anti-Stock Theft Unit, and Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.

He praised President William Ruto’s Mashujaa Day speech acknowledging extrajudicial killings perpetrated by rogue police units and called upon the government to take extra steps beyond disbanding the Special Services Unit (SSU). “We have information implicating KWS, and we call upon the authorities to investigate its role in abducting and killing Kenyans,” Khalid said.

He commended the pledge by the new DCI director, Mohamed Amin, to lead the directorate with professionalism and respect for human rights.

Khalid was accompanied by Jane Gatwiri, the mother of missing security expert Mwenda Mbijiwe, and Mikel Halefom, wife of abducted Ethiopian businessman Samson Teklemichael.

He appealed to incoming Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to open a national dialogue on the matter. Mbijiwe’s mother, Gatwiri, expressed confidence that her son would be found alive, citing information received by a “reliable source”. And Teklemichael’s wife, Milen, also claimed to have been told that her husband was alive. He disappeared in late 2021.

“We are encouraged by what the IAU has done so far to arrest and prosecute four individuals connected with the disappearance of two Indians in July 2022. We expect to see individuals in the dock in the case of Mbijiwe and Teklemichael,” Khalid said.

Khalid also appealed to incoming Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to open a national dialogue to provide a platform for affected Kenyans to speak out , as many had received threats.

‘’I have received threats over last couple of days in relation to unravelling some of the cases presented to you, but we remain committed to ensuring justice is done. I reported those threats to the DCI, and a young man in Malindi was arrested. The DCI has requested time to investigate,” he said.

Mbijiwe’s mother, Gatwiri, expressed confidence that her son would be found alive, citing information received by a “reliable source”.

“When I went to DCI offices, a senior officer told me that if I was Mbijiwe’s biological mother, I would be told the truth about my son,” she said. “I was taken round in circles at the DCI and at the mortuary. When bodies were found in Kirinyaga, Embu, or Chuka, I was told to go and see if it was my son. But we have never found a body.”

She implicated President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime in Mbijiwe’s disappearance, saying that her son was a security expert well known to many people in Kenyatta’s government, including former DCI Director George Kinoti.

Gatwiri said that Mbijiwe was kidnapped by eight highly-trained DCI officers, including a man she identified as Edward Mwangi, a prison warden said to be attached to Langata Women’s Prison.

“Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua came to Meru in July and said that Mbijiwe was being held by high profile people who are untouchable. He promised to bring my son back to Meru if we elected him and Ruto,” she said.

Gatwiri asked the Deputy president to full fill his campaign promise.

Mbijiwe went missing on June 12, 2021 enroute to his mother’s home in Meru County.

Teklemichael’s wife, Milen, also claimed to have been reliably informed that her husband was alive, although she had neither heard from nor spoken to him since his abduction in Nairobi on November 19, 2021.

“As a mother of small children, it is very difficult for me to tell them that he was abducted and to convince them that he is okay and alive, because they have seen the viral video. To pull out a person from his car like an animal is disrespecting the rights of a human being,” she said.

Halefom urged President Ruto to empathize with her family and deliver justice to her and her children.

 “We have been in Kenya for more than 16 years. I have given birth to my three children in this country. We are here legally. Our businesses are open for anyone to investigate. If he has done something, there are laws. Let them take him to court,” she said.

The press briefing follows a meeting between rights groups and DCI Director Amin on Wednesday October 26, during which Amin reiterated his commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure the safety and security of all Kenyans.