A family in Busia has been in a state of anxiety for a week now, caught between fear and faint hope that their loved ones might come home.
The High Court in Busia has finally intervened by ordering the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, and the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, to produce the missing trader.
Ibrahim Mohamed, aged 35, who works as a fish trader, was picked up on January 27th on his way to Nairobi from Busia. According to the family and other people in the vehicle, which was just a normal matatu, at Korinda Police Roadblock, which lies along the road, Ibrahim was ordered out of the vehicle because the people claiming to be from the DCI never showed up again.
Eyewitnesses stated he was carrying around KSh17 million in USD for his business. Since then, his phone has been switched off, and there is no news of his whereabouts from the family.
For seven days, his relatives have pursued all the police stations, enquiring if they have come across his information, but have failed to receive any news of his
On Thursday, Justice W. Musyoka commanded the police chiefs to produce Mohamed dead or alive and provide information about the circumstances surrounding Mohamed’s arrest or detention. In case they fail to do this, sworn statements would be made in 24 hours about who arrested Mohamed and what happened to him.
The case is scheduled for further hearing on February 9.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah characterized the situation as a risk of forced disappearance, advocating for the compliance of the police with the court order.
“Secret detention has no place in Kenya. No citizen should vanish,” he said.
This seems to be part of a worrying trend, as noted by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in cases of abduction and other instances of enforced disappearance by security agents.
As far as Ibrahim’s family is concerned, they hold on to a glimmer of hope that she will one day see their loved one again.
