NAIROBI, Kenya- Human rights organisation Vocal Africa has raised concerns over the whereabouts of five activists who it says remain missing after they were arrested during the June 25 memorial protests in Nairobi.
The organisation’s Executive Director, Hussein Khalid, said the five were among demonstrators apprehended by police as they attempted to lay wreaths outside Parliament in memory of those who died during the June 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests.
According to Khalid, the missing activists are Fredrick Ojiro, Colins Ochieng, Muteti Mulinge, Michael Ngige and Ochieng Alam.
“Kenyans, comrades, fellow citizens, out of the people who were arrested yesterday, there are those that were apprehended as we were laying wreaths of flowers at the barbed wire fence outside Parliament.
These colleagues remain missing to date and we don’t know where the police took them after arresting them,” Khalid said.
In a separate statement, Khalid appealed to the authorities to disclose the whereabouts of the five and facilitate their immediate release if they are in custody.
“Where is Fredrick Ojiro? Police arrested him yesterday together with others outside Parliament in broad daylight. Now they are all missing,” he said.
The claims come a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced that 355 people had been arrested during the nationwide demonstrations, describing the commemorations as largely peaceful despite heavy security operations and road closures in Nairobi.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has also urged members of the public to report cases of people who were arrested or remain unaccounted for following the protests.
The commission said it is coordinating reports of arrests and missing persons and encouraged affected families to seek assistance through its emergency response partners and dedicated hotline.
As of Saturday, the National Police Service had not publicly responded to Vocal Africa’s allegations regarding the five missing activists.
The June 25 memorial protests marked the second anniversary of the 2024 anti-government demonstrations, during which dozens of people were killed after protesters stormed Parliament.
This year’s commemorations were largely peaceful but were characterised by heavy police deployment, road barricades and hundreds of arrests across the country.