Police officers attempt to arrest activists Boniface Mwangi and Fredrick Ojiro on Harambee Avenue in Nairobi on September 24, 2024.
The discovery of bodies of people who have been kidnapped on Kenyan soil has mostly been followed by spine-chilling news. Gouged eyes, severed limbs and mutilated bodies of victims are reported much more frequently now.
Kenyan rivers have been turned into dumpsites for dead bodies. Victims are left to rot in water as if killing them, then gouging their eyes out and severing limbs is not enough for the psychopaths involved—as no sane human could do such a heinous thing. To say what is happening to many victims of such brutal murders is inhumane, does not even begin to describe the psyche of Kenyans who take part in the gruesome murders.
The modus operandi of Kenya Police, in the name of fighting terrorism, was defined by white 4x4 cars turning up at properties and kidnapping mostly young Muslim men—sometimes from the streets and mosques. Most of these men never returned home. The hue and cry that followed such an operation dampened it down a bit, but not before it had created a copycat effect in society. Claims of masked and unknown men turning up and picking up people for whatever reason became commonplace.
Gen-Z movement
As this style of kidnapping returned at the height of the Gen-Z movement orchestrated by the police, it was a matter of time before criminals and political rivals took advantage of it and disappeared people. An MCA from Wajir was kidnapped by unknown people and the search for him continues. The body found in Lake Yahud was thought to be his but has since been disproved after DNA analyses.
Two girls and their mother from Eastleigh were also kidnapped and murdered then their bodies strewn in different parts of the city. As I write this article, another Kenyan working as Human Resource manager is reported to have been murdered after being kidnapped. The list goes on.
These horrific kidnappings and murders are happening in a country supposedly with an active political culture where politicians are elbowing one another to ‘lead’. What’s more, the country is allegedly led by a vibrant constitution anchored on the rule of law.
The contrast between our beliefs on democracy and the rule of law and the harm that is happening to innocent people on the streets and their homes could not be starker. It is unbelievable that Kenyans face unlawful deaths while the government just watched!
Years of impunity
The omission by the state to protect the citizens is borne from years of impunity that has undermined the work of the criminal justice system. It is easier to abuse the police to fight an illegal political agenda on behalf of the government, than letting them maintain law and order. The government can find thousands of police to clamp down on what is considered dissidence but harder to find a couple of police officers to investigate the many murders currently gripping the country.
Again, the main reason there is a rise in kidnappings is omission by the state to tackle them head-on. However, it is implausible that a government that unleashes terror on the citizens such as kidnappings by the police and clamps down on lawful protesters is expected to be concerned about the spike in kidnappings and murder.
This culture of impunity has even taken an international angle, where refugees and those fleeing political persecution are kidnapped and forcibly returned to the countries they escaped from to find safety. Essentially, Kenya has outsourced kidnappings service when they decided to work on behalf of rogue regimes pursuing political refugees. Kidnappings and forcible return of Turkish refugees happened despite Kenya being a signatory to the Refugee Convention of 1951 on non-refoulement of refugees and asylum seekers.
Lack of respect for human life started with lack of respect for the law, both natural and legal positivism through the act of Parliament. Lack of morals in our political sphere has set a bad precedent over the years, when murder, kidnappings, fakery of academic qualifications and corruption normalised by politicians has seeped into the conscience of ordinary Kenyans. Even in cases where perpetrators of kidnappings and murders are known, the victims have always been failed by the state as suspects are set free after a bribe or winning a political seat.
Therefore, Kenya became a kidnapping state when the police were compromised. Rather than serve the public, they became the puppet of the state. This is the mentality that needs to change. Police independence is key in solving crimes regardless of the class or status of the perpetrators. It is crucially important for the police to keep Kenyans safe in the first place.
A compromised police is not only dangerous for the citizens but the country. Kenya’s reputation is now in tatters after the kidnapping and forcible return of Turkish refugees to their country. If the government fails to get on top of kidnapping problems, it will be a matter of time before the problem got closer to their homes. No one appears safe!
Ms Guyo is a legal researcher ([email protected], @kdiguyo).
