NAIROBI, Kenya – The family of missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe has moved to court seeking orders to compel the government to produce him — four years after he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
In an urgent habeas corpus application filed before the High Court in Nairobi, the family claims Mbijiwe was abducted by men believed to be plainclothes police officers in June 2021 and has never been seen again.
The case, filed under a miscellaneous criminal application, lists the Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), and the National Police Service as respondents.
Through the law firm of Ondieki & Ondieki Advocates, Mbijiwe’s family — alongside Jane Gatwiri M’ithinji, who is acting on his behalf — is asking the court to compel the state to produce him “dead or alive” or explain his whereabouts.
Advocate Evans Ondieki, who swore the supporting affidavit, described the matter as one of “extreme urgency”, arguing that the government’s continued silence amounts to a violation of constitutional rights.
According to court documents, Mbijiwe was last seen on June 12, 2021, while travelling from Nairobi to Meru.
He was reportedly driving a vehicle registered as KCN 641K, owned by one Edward Mwangi Mucharia, when he was intercepted in Roysambu by men suspected to be DCI officers in unmarked cars.
His family believes the disappearance was linked to a radio interview on Muuga FM two days earlier, during which he allegedly discussed sensitive national security issues.
Mbijiwe had also reported receiving death threats at Central Police Station under OB number 75/16/06/2021, just days before he vanished.
The application cites several constitutional provisions — including Articles 25(d), 28, 29, and 51(2) — which protect citizens from torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance.
It also invokes Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows the High Court to issue a writ of habeas corpus compelling authorities to produce a detained person.
“The disappearance of Mwenda Mbijiwe represents a blatant disregard for the rule of law and constitutionalism,” the family argues in its petition. “Unless this court intervenes, these violations will continue unabated.”
A ruling in favour of the family would compel the state to account for Mbijiwe’s whereabouts or risk contempt of court proceedings.
If the government denies knowledge of his detention, the matter could escalate into a full criminal investigation into his alleged abduction.
Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Air Force officer turned security consultant, went missing at a time when Kenya was grappling with a surge in alleged abductions and enforced disappearances linked to security operations.
His case has since become one of the most cited examples by human rights groups and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), which has repeatedly called for accountability over enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in the country.
