In a grim and disheartening pattern that has left the nation gripped by anger and instilled a sense of helplessness, the search for the missing Mlolongo abductees ended yesterday in a tragic and heart-wrenching discovery.
After days of desperate search, the lifeless bodies of Justus Mutumwa and Martin Mwau, two of the abductees, were discovered at the City Mortuary in Nairobi with no one able to explain the unfortunate state of affairs, even to the closest kin.
The troubling and persistent scourge of enforced disappearances once again playing out in an all too familiar script, drowned in layers of secrecy.
The whereabouts of the third abductee, Kalani Muema, however, remains unknown even as sources say more fingerprints of bodies at the morgue will be taken tomorrow to ascertain their identity.
“Fingerprints of family members who have been missing were taken to confirm the identity of the duo,” said a source at the mortuary.
But while the two lay cold on a slab, a little distance away, the nation watched as two of the country’s top security chiefs – Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin stood in the dock before Justice Chacha Mwita, and denied knowledge of the whereabouts of the Mlolongo three abducted in mid-December, last year.
For both Mutumwa and Mwau’s families that had camped at the morgue for the better part of yesterday, each day their kin failed to return home drew them closer to a nightmare they had feared the most. They scoured every corner of the living world and even the dead, desperate for answers before the chilling revelation.
Apparently, the body of Mutumwa had been lying at the Nairobi Funeral Home, formerly known as City Mortuary, where it was taken last year either on December 18 or December 19, 2024, alongside several others, according to sources at the facility.
It had severe head injuries, according to his brother Duncan Kyalo Musyimi, who said they were informed that the body and those of others were retrieved from a sewer in Ruai.
Mutumwa, Mwau and Muema went missing on December 16 after being picked in Mlolongo while Steve Mbisi Kivingo, their friend, disappeared the following day. The four are believed to have been abducted by law enforcers.
It is understood that after being picked, Mutumwa, 33, Mwau (29) and Karani, 35, led the abductors to Mbisi.
Kyalo yesterday disclosed that the family has been looking for Mutumwa since making a report at the Athi River Police Station last December.
Unsuccessful search
After filing the report, they started looking for him in hospitals thinking that he might have been admitted for illness or accident.
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Unsuccessful and with diming hope, they resorted to looking Mutumwa in morgues around the capital city and its surrounding environs.
“We looked for their names and they told us that bodies with such names had not been booked there,” said Kyalo.
Though, there lay several unidentified bodies at Nairobi Funeral Home, Mutumwa’s relatives were unable to visually identify that of their kin.
It came as a surprise on Wednesday as they prepared to attend court, when they were informed that Mutumwa’s body was among those lying unidentified at City Mortuary.
Kyalo claims police kept them in the dark during the process of comparing Mutumwa’s fingerprints with his.“We did not know about the process and they only notified our family yesterday (Wednesday) after getting positive result after the prints matched,” said Kyalo.
He said that an officer from DCI headquarters called their local Assistant County Commissioner who then called their area chief who communicated the same to a village elder who broke the sad news to the family Wednesday.
Although police have continuously denied any involvement in their disappearance, how they were picked raised more questions than answers.
Further, the turn of events yesterday brought more confusion on the day IG Kanja and DCI boss Amin appeared in court denying the four men were in their custody.
Their lawyer while responding to news that Mutumwa’s body was in the morgue, insisted that it is only DNA tests that will confirm the real identity.
“Let’s allow science to prove to who has been found, and the family to provide samples then once that person is identified, the police will again investigate the circumstances,” said lawyer Danston Omari.
Mutumwa’s family lawyer Dan Maanzo said following the fingerprint analysis, they had no doubts the body was of the deceased man.
“We can confirm that petitioner number one Mr Mutumwa Musyimi’s body is at City Mortuary. A quick check with finger prints confirms it is him, and he is the petitioner in this matter. This information came to us while the proceedings were going on in court,” said Maanzo.
The families and human rights advocates had filed a habeas corpus in court to compel police to produce the four missing persons in court. Maanzo accused police of being un-cooperative regarding the whereabouts of the men.
“It is the requirement of the law for the police to investigate and find out who abducted and killed these people; the responsibility solely lies with the police,” he added.
Appearing before Justice Chacha Mwita, Kanja and Amin had been summoned to appear in court four times to clear the air on the abductions.
Law-abiding citizen
Kanja said that after receiving reports of the missing persons from Athi River and Mlolongo police stations, he directed DCI to conduct investigations to establish the where about of the three missing persons.
Kanja insisted that the three men Mutumwa alias Sugura, and Martin Mwau alias Mzungu were not being held in any police station, contrary to claims by petitioners.
“I want to confirm before this court we have none of the subjects in our custody. I want to let the people of Kenya know that they are safe,” Kanja told justice Mwita.
Kanja confirmed that the missing persons’ reports were officially recorded at Athi River Police Station under OB No. 23/21/12/24 and Mlolongo Police Station under OB No. 43/25/12/2024.
Kanja defended himself against accusations of defying court orders, despite being summoned multiple times without appearing.
“I am a law-abiding citizen who obeys and respects court orders,” he told the court.
As he sought to quell fears that have been circulating in the wake of the Mlolongo incidents, the police boss reiterated investigations into the matter are ongoing under the command of Paul Wachira, a DCI deputy director investigations bureau.
On his part, Amin distanced himself and his office on the abduction, maintaining his officers are not involved. “I wish to state that the missing persons are not under the custody of the National Police Service… We can neither present the bodies nor can we formally prefer any charges against them because they are not under our custody,” said the DCI boss.
When asked by lawyer Nyawa Malidzo and Polycap Okello why investigations into the matter are taking long, Amin said that he cannot give a time frame due to the complexity of the matter.
He disclosed that he had instructed his deputy to expedite the probe.
The court heard through detective Wachira that detectives have visited the scenes of alleged abduction, interrogated the witnesses and recorded their statements.
The senior sleuth further said they have got court orders compelling communication mobile data providers to supply the personal data of the abductees.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has filed an application to be struck out from the case saying he has no role in the disappearance.
[By Nancy Gitonga, Hudson Gumbihi and Fredrick Kagonye]
