LSK and Omtatah Get 30 Days to Revise Abduction Petition

The High Court has granted the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Senator Okiya Omtata 30 days to amend their petitions seeking to compel the IG and DCI to Produce in court two missing persons alive or dead allegedly abducted by the police in December last year.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye gave the petitioners until May 19 to file fresh petitions regarding the disappearances of two individuals who to date their whereabouts remain unknown.

The court directive comes after LSK lawyer   Abna Mango urged the court to allow them to amend the petition to include fresh details regarding the mysterious disappearances of the two missing Kevin Muthoni and Stephen Kavingo and six others who have since been set free.

Mango told the judge that they are also seeking to file a formal application seeking to compel the government to conduct  DNA on 14 bodies lying at the city mortuary to establish whether the two missing persons are among them.
He said that the DNA tests would help the court determine the whereabouts of Kavingo and Muthoni.

Lawyers Danstan Omari and Paul Nyamodi representing the IG and the CS Interior are opposed to the application and urged the court to Compel LSK to file a formal application requiring the government chemist to conduct a DNA test on the bodies and file a report in court.

However, the CS interior Kipchumba Murkomen through lawyer Omari urged the court to give direction on his application seeking to be removed from the proceedings because he was not involved in the abductions.

A similar application was made by the DPP who also sought to have his name removed from the proceedings, a request the judge declined.

While declining to remove both the  CS and DPP the judge urged them to reconsider their decision to have their names struck out as serious allegations against them may be made during the proceedings and they may not have an opportunity to defend themselves.

The CS and DPP were given until May 19 to decide whether they wanted to be removed. The judge also directed the case to be heard on October 27 without further delay.

The development comes after the court declined to compel the state to Produce the missing persons in court.

The High Court has dismissed an application by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah to compel the government to release individuals allegedly abducted by the police in December 2024 and January 2025.

On Thursday Justice Mwamuye, dismissed the application seeking to compel the IG and DCI boss Mohamed to produce in court the missing persons either live or dead, ruled that LSK and Omtatah failed to provide sufficient evidence to show that the missing persons were in police custody.

In his ruling, the judge stated that the petitioners did not adequately substantiate their claims that the missing individuals, including some who had been freed earlier this year, were in police custody.

“They did not establish that the seven individuals are in the custody of the respondents, nor did they satisfy the court that the seven, along with an eighth individual, are being illegally detained by either known or unknown persons,” Justice Mwamuye ruled.

The petitioners had claimed these individuals were in police custody after they were abducted by armed men believed to be officers.

Meanwhile, Interior CS Murkomen, who is also in the same case, through his lawyer Danstan Omari will be applying for the court to remove his name in the case Omari said his client was wrongfully put in the case by petitioners. In a ruling delivered at the interlocutory stage, and after reviewing the affidavits submitted by both parties, the judge found that the applicants had not met the burden of proof.

The victims listed in the Habeas Corpus application include Gideon Kibet, Ronny Kiplagat, Steve Kavingo Mbisi, Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Benard Kavuli, and Kelvin Muthoni who Lsk and Omtatah wanted an order to have them produced in court live or dead by country’s security and prosecution agencies.

The individuals had been missing for nearly a month after they were abducted between December 16 and December 17 last year at different locations on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Reportedly, they were allegedly taken from their homes and streets within months after the youth-led nationwide protests against the deepening economic and health crises during President William Ruto’s rule last year.

In his application, Omtatah criticized the security agencies, accusing them of failing to protect citizens from abductions targeting government critics.

Lsk is demanding accountability from the police chiefs over the abductions that occurred in December 2024.