JAMILA'S MEMO: Arrest, don't abduct

In recent times, however, we have heard it expressed in much more frightening language. Produce this person in court. Dead or alive.

Think about those words for a moment. Dead. Or alive. That a family should have to go before a judge and ask the authorities to produce their loved one, dead or alive, is a frightening reflection of the times we are living in. And sadly, this is not the first time.

Remember the Longton brothers? They disappeared in August 2024, alongside activist Bob Njagi. For approximately one month, their families lived with the agony of not knowing. Then, one morning, they were found alive in Gachie, Kiambu County. They said they had been abandoned by their captors. Imagine the relief of those families. But imagine, too, the questions that remained. Who took them? Where were they held? Why were they taken? And who would be held accountable?

Now, another family has been through a similar nightmare. Lawyer Abshir Ahmedsadak Abdi disappeared on November 1.

CCTV footage shows how he and his friend were forcibly taken away. His family went to court. Lawyers took to the streets. Security agencies denied holding him. And for days, the question remained. Where is are they?

Well, today, there has been some welcome news. After eleven days of uncertainty, Abshir and his friend Ayub Mohamud Maalim have reportedly been found alive in Sololo, Marsabit County, hundreds of kilometres from where they disappeared in Nairobi.

For the families, this must be an extraordinary relief. But surely, we cannot simply celebrate their return and close the file. Because the question has now changed. Who took them? Where were they held for all those days? Why were they taken? And who will be held accountable?

And in the middle of all this, information emerged about previous police investigations involving Abshir and allegations of criminal conduct. I want us to be very clear about something. If a crime was committed, investigate. If there is evidence, arrest him. If there are charges to answer, take him to court.

That is how the law works. The same applies to every other Kenyan. Because the question here is not whether someone is a good or bad person. It is whether the law has been followed. And if we begin to accept that allegations of criminal conduct are sufficient justification for someone to disappear, then what protection does any of us have?

There is also the case of Tanzanian activist Twaha Salim Mwaipaya, reportedly abducted in Machakos County last month. His whereabouts have also been the subject of court proceedings, with authorities denying that they are holding him.

Now, let me be fair. The fact that armed men abduct somebody does not, by itself, establish that those men are police officers. And a denial of custody is not, by itself, proof that the police are lying. But surely, the responsibility of our security agencies does not end with saying, “We don't have him.”

If you are not holding him, who is looking for him? What have investigations established? Who are the people captured on CCTV? And when can the family expect answers?

Because finding a missing person alive should not mean that the investigation ends. It should mean that investigators now have an opportunity to establish what happened, identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

This administration has repeatedly assured Kenyans that abductions and enforced disappearances will not be tolerated. Yet here we are, once more, with families searching, lawyers protesting, courts issuing orders and security agencies being asked to account for missing people.

We need to know who is taking people, where they are being held, who is giving the instructions and what consequences follow when the law is broken.

We are relieved that Abshir and his friend have been found alive. But there are others whose families are still waiting. And even for those who have returned, there remains one more thing that must be produced. The truth.

Because surely, in a country governed by the rule of law, no family should have to spend another night wondering whether someone they love is dead or alive. And no Kenyan should have to disappear before the law remembers that they exist.

And that is my Memo.