Kenya's security chiefs must account for every missing person, the Principal Secretary for Internal Security, Raymond Omollo, said on Tuesday, 10 November, as the High Court presses the country's top police officers over two disappearances. Omollo said police should establish the last known location of a missing person, state whether the person is in police custody, and give regular updates on the investigation.

Speaking on NTV's Fixing the Nation programme, Omollo said the appearances of the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Criminal Investigations in court showed that security agencies were able to account for their investigations. He pointed to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority as the constitutional body mandated to investigate police conduct independently.

Two cases before the courts

The remarks came as the family of Nairobi lawyer Abshir Ahmedsadak Abdi waits for answers. Abdi was reportedly seized by armed men along Muchai Road, off Ngong Road, in the early hours of 1 November, and his white Toyota Premio was later found abandoned. The High Court ordered Inspector General Douglas Kanja and DCI Director Mohamed Amin to produce the advocate before the court, either alive or dead, and to produce any warrant authorising his arrest. DCI chief Amin has publicly denied that police officers were involved in the disappearance.

In a separate case, the High Court ordered the same two officers to appear personally and explain the whereabouts of Tanzanian activist Twaha Mwaipaya, who was reportedly abducted in Kamulu on 25 October. Justice Alexander Muteti issued the order after Senior Counsel Martha Karua, appearing for Vocal Africa, argued that the responsibility could not be delegated to junior officers.

Accountability and staged abductions

Omollo also suggested that some reported abductions may be staged, citing cases of self-abduction and false alarms, and said action should be taken against culpable police officers, people who stage their own disappearances, and those who create false alerts. He said a joint approach involving the police, the judiciary, the media and other criminal-justice actors was essential.

Amnesty International has raised the alarm over 22 enforced disappearances in Kenya in 2026, and lawyers have urged the courts to use stronger remedies against abductions. On 13 November, the Makadara Law Courts are due to hear cross-examination of officials from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, the National Intelligence Service and the Kenya Defence Forces over Abdi's disappearance. For the full account of Omollo's remarks, see the Kenya Tribune report, and for the court's order on the missing activist, see The Eastleigh Voice.