Mathare Families Drag IG Kanja To Court Over Missing Men

Families from Mathare took bold action in the High Court today as they seek orders forcing Inspector General Douglas Kanja to bring their loved ones back alive or dead. These desperate relatives demand answers about the missing men snatched recently. The push for accountability grips the capital right now.

Lawyers filed papers that put direct pressure on police leadership. They want Kanja and his team to produce the men within hours. Tension fills the air in Nairobi courtrooms where families refuse to stay silent any longer.

Why do families from Mathare keep searching for their sons?

They demand truth after armed men took the young men without clear reason. Protesters blocked roads and lit fires in the area earlier this week. They chanted against the government and called out Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen by name.

One relative fought back tears while he described weeks of visiting police stations and hospitals with no results. “We only hope that we will find him alive,” said the brother of Abdulaziz Duba Molu, known locally as Zizou.

Security officers picked up Zizou near Juja Farm on June 23. Youth leader Macmillan Kiarie vanished after CCTV caught him in Mwihoko, Githurai, on June 20. Michael Oloo also disappeared without trace.

These cases add to a longer list of over 75 people human rights groups say remain unaccounted for since protests rocked the country in June 2024. Residents accuse plainclothes officers of driving unregistered vehicles.

They snatched victims from spots across Mathare, Githurai, Umoja, and Juja Farm in the past two weeks. Rose Adhiambo, wife of one missing man, recalled how strangers pushed her husband into a car. The families gave authorities 24 hours to respond or face more street action toward ministry offices.

Senior Counsel Phillip Murgor stepped forward and called for thorough probes into separate tragedies that hit the legal world hard. He joined voices demanding answers over the deaths of two advocates. Edward Muthee Kariuki and Esther Wairimu Keige lost their lives in suspicious ways that shook colleagues deeply.

How did lawyers respond to the deaths of their colleagues?

They organised a Purple Ribbon March straight to the Supreme Court on July 10. Hundreds walked through Nairobi streets dressed formally with purple symbols pinned on. They started at Milimani Law Courts, moved along Kenyatta Avenue, and gathered outside the Supreme Court building.

LSK President Charles Kanjama led the group. Former presidential candidate George Wajackoyah and Senior Counsel Martha Karua joined the procession. Placards waved high as marchers demanded full justice and protection for advocates everywhere.

The legal fraternity mourns deeply. Edward Kariuki Muthee died after gunmen shot him in Athi River, Machakos County. Esther Wairimu Keige, a 54-year-old legal manager at Kenya Forest Service, went missing June 10 after her driver dropped her at a Shell station in Juja.

Search teams found her body July 6 in a bushy coffee farm in Juja, Kiambu County. Decomposition made it tough to determine the exact cause, but pathologists ruled out obvious external injuries. Her phone sat intact nearby while shoes lay placed beside it.

DCI investigators noted Keige battled depression and had wandered off safely three times before. Toxicology tests now run to clarify details. Yet lawyers reject simple explanations. They see patterns that threaten the entire profession. Kanjama addressed the crowd during the march.

He described the killings as attacks on the rule of law itself. The society called for a multi-agency team to hunt not just triggermen but planners and beneficiaries too. They want forensic reviews of land cases handled by Keige’s department at the forest service.

Phillip Murgor added his weight to calls for real investigations that leave no stone unturned. Families of the missing men echo that hunger for facts. They refuse to accept silence from security agencies. One Mathare Social Justice Centre leader stood firm. “We are here to say no to cases of abductions,” she declared.

Courts have issued similar orders before in abduction cases from Mlolongo and other spots. Judges directed Kanja personally to appear and produce people or explain their absence. Police sometimes claim they hold no one, yet families keep waiting without closure. This pattern fuels anger across neighbourhoods.

The latest court filing in the Mathare matter raises the stakes higher. It seeks habeas corpus orders that could hold officials accountable if they fail to comply. Lawyers argue the Constitution demands protection of every citizen’s rights. Public trust in policing erodes further with each unanswered disappearance.

As night falls over Nairobi, families sit in uncertainty. Some clutch photos of smiling young men now gone. Others prepare for more protests if the 24-hour window closes empty. The Purple Ribbon March showed lawyers stand united. They link arms with affected communities to demand safety and truth.

Senior Counsel Phillip Murgor and others push hard for systemic change. They want investigations that deliver real results, not just reports. The High Court now holds power to compel action from IG Kanja and the police force. How authorities respond could calm fears or spark wider unrest in the coming days.

This story unfolds against a backdrop of repeated clashes between citizens and security forces. Mathare residents remember past rounds of protests that turned violent. One man died during recent demonstrations over the missing youths.