Muteti summons IG Kanja after State fails to produce missing Tanzanian activist

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 — The High Court has summoned Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to appear on Tuesday after the State failed to produce missing Tanzanian activist Twaha Mwaipaya, dead or alive, as earlier ordered.

Justice Alexander Muteti on Monday said the State had failed to adequately account for Mwaipaya’s whereabouts, particularly amid allegations that he may have been arrested and taken back to Tanzania without following due process.

The judge said Article 49 of the Constitution requires an arrested person to be presented before a court or informed of the reasons for continued detention, adding that the State had a duty to assure the court that its agents had not arrested and removed the activist from Kenya.

“It is important, therefore, that the highest duty bearer assures the court that the respondents did not arrest and remove the subject from the country back to Tanzania as alleged,” Muteti said.

The judge noted that although the Inspector General and the Director of Criminal Investigations had sent senior officers to court, the State had not addressed allegations of possible repatriation.

“The silence on the issue of possible repatriation at the instance of the State cannot go unexplained,” he said, faulting the government for failing to file an affidavit given the gravity of the matter.

Govt ordered to produce Twaha Mwaipaya, dead or alive

Muteti said the Inspector General, as the head of the police service, should explain whether State agents could have abducted Mwaipaya and returned him to Tanzania without following due process.

The court consequently directed Kanja to appear on November 3 to address the alleged irregular removal of the activist from the country and provide an update on investigations into his disappearance.

The judge said there was no need to summon both the IG and the DCI, noting that the Inspector General retained residual authority over police matters.

In his ruling, Muteti cited Article 49 of the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights decision in Öcalan v Turkey, which he said underscored the importance of promptly presenting arrested persons before judicial authorities as protection against arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.

The judge observed that the case was particularly relevant because the subject of that decision had been arrested at an airport in Kenya and removed from the country.

Muteti also faulted the Attorney General for not providing the court with the necessary support in a matter involving the liberty of a foreign national.

He cited Article 156 of the Constitution, which establishes the Attorney General as the government’s principal legal adviser and custodian of the public interest, and referred to the Supreme Court decision in Petition 14 of 2020, DPP v Chris Okemo, on the office’s role in matters of international cooperation.

The summons followed an application by human rights organisation Vocal Africa, which moved to court on October 27 seeking Mwaipaya’s production after he reportedly disappeared in Kamulu, Machakos County, on October 25.

In orders issued on October 30, the court directed security agencies to produce the activist before it on Monday, November 2, “live or dead”, alongside his original detention warrant, and explain why he should not be released.

Amnesty International Kenya and the Defenders Coalition had said Mwaipaya was seized at around 2pm while travelling by taxi to visit friends. They called on authorities to establish his whereabouts and guarantee his safety.

The circumstances surrounding the reported abduction, the identities of those involved and Mwaipaya’s current location remain unclear based on the information presented in the application and statements by the rights organisations.

Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi had separately raised fears that Mwaipaya could be forcibly returned to Tanzania, where she alleged he had previously been abducted and tortured by police. Those claims have not been independently verified.