NAIROBI, Kenya- Human rights activist Collins Otieno has been found alive but injured after reportedly disappearing while helping trace fellow activist Boniface Mulinge Muteti.
Vocal Africa Chief Executive Officer Hussein Khalid said Otieno was found along Thika Road at about 4.30am on Saturday, September 26.
According to Khalid, a boda boda rider found Otieno and rushed him to Neema Uhai Hospital in the Kasarani area.
“Comrade Collins Otieno has been found. He was dumped along Thika Road. A good Samaritan boda boda guy found him around 4.30am and rushed him to hospital,” Khalid said.
“Like comrade Muteti, Collins is disoriented, weak and injured. He is presently at Neema Uhai Hospital around Kasarani receiving treatment.”
The circumstances surrounding Otieno’s disappearance, where he was held and the identities of those responsible had not been established by the time of publication.
Police had also not issued a detailed public statement addressing the circumstances in which he was found.
Activist disappeared while tracing Muteti
Otieno was reported missing after becoming involved in efforts to trace Muteti, who disappeared following demonstrations in Nairobi on Monday, September 21.
The protests called for the release of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who has remained in detention in Uganda.
Otieno was among activists arrested in Nairobi’s Central Business District during the demonstrations. Reports indicated that he later sought assistance to establish Muteti’s whereabouts before he also disappeared.
Khalid raised the alarm over Otieno’s disappearance on Friday, shortly after Muteti was found alive in Lukenya, Machakos County.
Muteti found after four days
Muteti was reportedly abandoned in Lukenya at about 3am on Friday after being missing for four days.
He walked for a considerable distance before reaching a petrol station, where a member of the public helped him contact his family.
Muteti was taken to hospital in Mlolongo while weak, injured and disoriented. Doctors reported injuries to his head, chest and feet and recommended further medical examinations.
He later said his abductors tortured him, burned his feet, denied him food and questioned him about his activism before shaving his hair and abandoning him.
Otieno’s recovery comes less than 24 hours after Muteti was found.
Both activists have previously participated in demonstrations together. They were among six activists charged in August with obstructing traffic during a protest along Taifa Road in Nairobi.
They were also among protesters the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said were arrested outside Parliament during demonstrations on June 25, 2026.
