The family of missing security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe has gone to court to compel the government to reveal his whereabouts. They filed a habeas corpus case, seeking the state to produce him “dead or alive.”
The relatives of security expert Mwenda Mbijiwe have taken a legal step to find out what happened to him, four years after he went missing under mysterious circumstances.
In a case filed before the High Court in Nairobi, the family is demanding that the government produce Mbijiwe or explain where he is. The urgent habeas corpus application accuses state agencies of keeping silent despite numerous appeals for information.
The court documents list several top state offices as respondents, including 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.
Through Ondieki & Ondieki Advocates, the family wants the state compelled to “produce him dead or alive,” saying his disappearance is a direct violation of constitutional rights. Advocate Evans Ondieki, who filed the supporting affidavit, described the matter as “extremely urgent” and accused the government of ignoring its constitutional duty to protect citizens.
According to the petition, Mbijiwe was last seen on June 12, 2021, while travelling from Nairobi to Meru. He was reportedly driving a car registered as KCN 641K, owned by one Edward Mwangi Mucharia, when he was stopped in Roysambu by men suspected to be DCI officers using unmarked vehicles.
Before his disappearance, the family says Mbijiwe had appeared on Muuga FM for an interview, where he allegedly discussed sensitive national security matters. He had also reported receiving death threats at Central Police Station, recorded under OB 75/16/06/2021.
The family’s application draws on Articles 25(d), 28, 29, and 51(2) of the Constitution, which protect citizens from torture, unlawful detention, and enforced disappearance. It also refers to Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers the High Court to compel authorities to present a missing person believed to be in state custody.
“The disappearance of Mwenda Mbijiwe is a total violation of the Constitution and the rule of law.”
The petition reads in part.
“Unless the court intervenes, such acts will continue unchecked.”
Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Air Force officer who later became a security consultant, went missing at a time when Kenya was recording rising cases of alleged abductions and extra-judicial killings.
Human rights organisations and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) have repeatedly cited his case as one of the country’s most disturbing examples of enforced disappearance.
If the court rules in favour of the family, the government could be forced to account for his fate or face contempt of court proceedings. Should the state deny holding him, the court may order a full criminal investigation into his alleged abduction.
