Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has demanded that the country’s continuous, unexplained kidnappings be immediately stopped.
Speaking on Wednesday, Odinga said that the government should act quickly to solve the many kidnappings that have occurred in 2024 lest they seriously jeopardize national security.
“As a nation, we are now approaching the end. The Kenyan people have faced difficulties this year. We saw protests and the deaths of innocent people. However, we also hope that the kidnappings of innocent persons, which we have seen this year, would come to a stop,” Odinga said.
“This is a punitive measure that is quite peculiar. We cannot live in a nation where individuals are kept out of communication for extended periods of time and vanish for no apparent cause. This has to stop, and the government needs to take it seriously. We want a secure and safe nation.
“The use of kidnappings as a means of enforcing foul justice has matured,” according to Odinga, and every Kenyan who is caught breaking the law should face legal consequences.
“The days of being arrested and brought to Nyayo House are long gone. However, you are now being transported to uncharted territory. It is wrong and backward,” Odinga said.
Similar worries were voiced by Mombasa Catholic Archbishop Martin Kivuva, who said that the kidnappings pose a danger to the peace during the 2027 General Election and that the law should be fully implemented to catch those responsible.
“The kidnappings that occur as a result of expressing oneself have matured. As Kivuva pointed out in his Christmas sermon, “That is what we saw during the colonial era, where one would be tortured for just having an ill thought.”
“We want the President to listen to me if he knows anybody who is engaged. It will not assist our new generation in gaining confidence since it is taking us back to a time long before we gained our freedom.”
Archbishop Ole Sapit of the Anglican Church of Kenya called on the perpetrators of the kidnappings to behave civilly and to cease their heinous actions.
He said that the church is supporting the families who have lately lost loved ones to kidnappings and is urging an urgent investigation to find out where they are.
“Let this Christmas be a moment of celebration, and we want to stand with those families that are crying, and we saw last night families are crying that their loved ones have been abducted; they don’t know their whereabouts, and we are praying with them,” Ole Sapit added.
“It is our plea to whoever is behind this to stop and let us act responsibly and demonstrate that we care about this nation and her future.”
In the last week, there have been three recorded abductions.
On Sunday night, four armed men in a white Probox abducted 24-year-old Benard Kavuli from a gas station in Ngong town.
His social media activity is connected to his kidnapping; his most recent postings on his X platform have been critical of the government and have brought attention to the violence that occurred in the nation during the 2007 election.
The kidnapping of Kavuli occurs one day after four armed men abducted Peter Muteti and Billy Mwangi in an identical manner in Uthiru and Embu, respectively.
Armed guys abducted the two on Saturday, and they have been missing ever since. Two guys kidnapped Muteti when he was making purchases at a Uthiru grocery, according to exclusive CCTV evidence.
