Nairobi, Kenya- Former Chief Justice David Maraga has come out swinging against President William Ruto’s recent remarks on enforced disappearances in Kenya, accusing the Head of State of insensitivity and failing to acknowledge the pain of victims’ families.
During a Monday press briefing alongside Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Ruto confidently declared that “all the people who disappeared or were abducted have been brought back to their families.”
But according to Maraga, that statement did more harm than good.
Maraga didn’t mince words. “It is unconscionable to hear the President claim, without any apology to the victims, parents, and families, that there are no ongoing incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings,” he said.
The former CJ argued that such declarations only deepen the trauma for families still searching for their loved ones—or grieving them. “How long shall the lives of innocent Kenyans be so devalued and dismissed?” he posed, referencing the case of Brian Odhiambo, who has been missing for four months.
A Disconnect Between the State and Reality
The President’s remarks, made in response to a journalist’s question citing human rights reports, painted a picture of a government that had resolved past abuses and would not tolerate future ones.
Ruto said he had given “firm instructions that nothing of that kind will happen again.”
But critics, including Maraga, say these claims are not supported by the facts on the ground.
The Accountability Question
While President Ruto has tried to reassure the public that no such cases will occur again, Maraga insists words without action—and without apologies—mean little.
“This isn’t just about politics,” Maraga said. “It’s about real families still crying out for justice.”
The former CJ’s remarks underscore growing frustration with how the state is addressing—or failing to address—rampant extra-judicial killings and mysterious disappearances.
With public trust already frayed, the government’s reluctance to fully acknowledge past wrongs may only deepen the divide.
Maraga’s call for empathy, accountability, and honesty adds a powerful voice to a conversation that can’t afford to be ignored. His message to the President? Acknowledge the pain. Apologize. Then act
Because for families still lighting candles for the missing, silence isn’t just deafening—it’s cruel.
