Kenyan kidnappings spark fears of a return to a dark past

The reported disappearance of over 80 government critics in the past six months has sparked a huge public upheaval in Kenya.

A judge has warned he will jail senior security officials in contempt of court on Monday if they fail to appear a third time to account for a recent spate of alleged kidnappings.

The case is linked to disappearances documented by Kenya's National Human Rights Commission since nationwide protests against proposed tax increases began last June.

At least 24 are said to still be missing.

Police and the government deny abducting and illegally detaining the 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 Directorate 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 across the country.

Mr. Kanja's lawyers asked the court for more time to record their statements and file a report.

Billy Mwangi is one of the five. The 24-year-old was dropped off by his alleged captors 75km (46 miles) from his hometown in Embu, in central Kenya, in an apparent act of intimidation.

Billy's father, Gerald Mwangi Karicha, told the BBC his son was traumatised.

“The boy hasn't shared much,” he said. “All I can say is that when he came he wasn't his usual self. He looked in shock.”

Billy, a college student who has been a vocal critic of the government on social media, Disappeared on 21 December 2024 while at a barber shop in Embu.

According to witnesses, hooded men arrived in a Toyota player and double-cab pickup truck, loaded him 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 the night of his disappearance, only to find that his son's phone had been switched off.

The barber shop owner later informs him of the kidnapping, triggering a frantic search.

Billy's mother was devastated when she heard the news and the weeks that followed were agonizing 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 his release has brought them 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 have also remained silent since their release in September from 32 days in captivity.

The brothers were warned, Jamil says, that they would be killed if they went to the media.

Three months later, a government official publicly referred to his case as a lawful arrest.

The siblings took this as confirmation that a government agency was responsible for what they had experienced and found the courage to speak out.

“The Kenyan constitution is very clear,” says Jamil. “You have to be arrested and brought to court within 24 hours. Ours was 32 days. We were never given a lawyer to represent us anywhere.

“We weren't allowed to see our family or communicate with our family. So it's not an arrest, it's a kidnapping.”

The brothers told the BBC that Aslam had helped organize protests against tax hikes in the town of Kitengela near the capital, Nairobi, and had been warned by security agents to stop his activism.

One day in August, the two were dragged in a car from their home, hooded and handcuffed, and taken to an undisclosed location where they were kept in small, dark cells.

Aslam says he was regularly beaten, and his tormentor demanded to know who was funding the protests.

“I was very scared,” he says. “When the door opens, the man will come with a fiber cable and a metal rod.

“I was afraid he came to beat me or finish me – there were only two options to beat me or kill me.”

Jamil describes their captors as heavily armed, able to track their mobile phones and confident enough to take them in broad daylight, operating with a level of resources and a degree of flexibility that in many cases informs human rights.

But that does not mean they are official security operatives, says government spokesman Isaac Mwaura, denying the state is behind the kidnappings.

“Organised security can also be part of organized crime,” he told the BBC.

“It could also be for political reasons … Our political offenders have really targeted this issue. They're actually running with it just to settle political scores.”

Mr Mwaura declined to comment The case of government minister Justin MuturiOne of the most horrifying accusations of Kenya's security agencies.

Muturi says his son was picked up by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and released only after he made a direct appeal to President William Ruto.

“It is a matter of investigation because that is his side of the story,” said Mr Mwaura. “But what is a National Intelligence Service 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 outrage and concern from Western allies.

Many are troubled that the apparently systematic disappearance of anti-government activists has come about this way, recalling similar methods under the authoritarian leadership of Daniel Arap Moi in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gitobu Imanyara, a journalist and activist who campaigned for multiparty politics in the early 1990s, was arrested and beaten by the Moi regime. He has no doubt that he now sees the “Moi Playbook” in action.

But, he says, times have changed. The constitutional amendments establish more mechanisms of accountability 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 wish for democratic voices of dissent,” he told the BBC.

Plus with social media, “word spreads almost instantly,” he said.

“We can't be censored the way we were censored in those days when we could only use stationary.”

Reports of disappearances have decreased in recent weeks.

But despite the announcement of police investigations, no one has been charged, let alone convicted, of carrying them out.

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, sister of Steve Mbisi, one of the seven who disappeared in December.

“We hope they will release him. (Most) of the kidnappers have been released, but he is still missing. We pray that he will be found.”