Just as he promised during his campaigns for presidency in 2022, President William Ruto should ensure that as the first in command, he do away with abductions and extrajudicial killings which seems to be ‘a new normal’ in Kenya today. Several Kenyans have been abducted, mostly during the Anti-finance Bill demonstration which was witnessed earlier this year. Quite a good number of them were murdered, others tortured while the whereabouts of some are not known.
Abductions sometimes in broad daylight and disappearances of persons have drawn a very sharp condemnation from citizens and foreign partners ,with key partners like the United States and European nations expressing serious concerns about the government’s conduct. With the massive increment in taxes which seems to be unpopular to Kenyans, officers in security agencies have expanded their raids in streets, estates, and private homes to silence ‘The noisemakers’ or rather the opposers.
The sharp razor seemed not to cut only the demonstrators, but also high-profile individuals like the son of the former Attorney General of Kenya, Githu Muigai , a move that was seen by many as politicaly castigated. Among those reported missing for weeks are political blogger Maverick Aoko, who was later found within the Kenya -Tanzania boarder, lawyer John Eric Wesonga, and Wajir MCA Yusuf Hussein Ahmed, raising fears that a secretive security team is operating at a grassroots level to silence the opposition.
According to Human Rights Watch East Africa region Director Otsieno Namwaya, the abduction officers are a team of 50 officers supported by the NIS, the Rapid Deployment Unit, individuals in Military Intelligence, and anti-terror police. “We will be releasing a report this week on their activities where these officers are holding victims in private buildings, abandoned buildings, and warehouses,” Namwaya said, adding, “And if they take you to police stations, they won’t record to show that you were not arrested.”
Kenya being a democratic and a country governed by constitution, Human Rights should be upheld and one of the backward behavior of abductions should not be tolerated by all means.
Isaac OKOTH
Rongo