Mwenda Mbijiwe family: Searching for missing son has taken toll on us

The family of missing security commentator Mwenda Mbijiwe says it has done everything within its means to find him and bring him home. 

Since his disappearance, his mother, Jane Kagwiria, has exhausted the family’s meagre resources, hiring a private investigator and making endless trips to Nairobi and other towns as she clung to hope that he was alive. 

But the search has come at a heavy price. 

Yesterday afternoon, Ms Kagwiria was put on a drip at a Nairobi hospital after her blood pressure shot. She had nearly collapsed, prompting those accompanying her to rush her to hospital. 

“I thought they (government) were going to produce my son in court today, but they did not,” said a tearful Kagwiria, accompanied by her daughter, Daisy Mbijiwe. 

When she had recovered slightly, she said she was shocked and disappointed to learn she would not see her son in court. 

“I had thought the end of our suffering, worrying about Mwenda’s whereabouts, had finally come, only to be disappointed again,” she said. 

She has made countless trips from Sirimon in Buuri, Meru, to Nairobi, hoping her son was being held somewhere and would eventually be found alive. 

“As a family we have undergone suffering of huge proportions. We had to seek psychological support because the safety of my brother has troubled us for all these years he has been missing. We cry when we think about his well-being,” said Daisy. 

At the start of 2022, her brother, Nicholas Bundi, began a 300km walk to Nairobi to raise awareness and agitate for Mbijiwe’s release, as many in the family and community believed he was in government custody. 

Armed with a placard and a Bible, Mr Bundi sought to highlight the pain endured by his mother, relatives, and the local community as the former Kenya Air Force officer remained missing. 

Frustrated by the lack of progress in investigations by the police and other agencies, his mother pleaded at one point that he be produced, dead or alive. 

“The reports we are receiving from other sources indicate our son is alive. As a family, we are asking the government to speed up its investigations, tell us where he is, and release him,” Ms Kagwiria said. 

She added that with help from neighbours and the community, they had considered hiring a lawyer, as they remained in the dark with no updates from investigators. 

“It pains us that despite countless visits to government offices for information about my son’s disappearance, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. 

Having hit a dead end, the family made an impassioned plea to the President, saying they believed he had the authority to order Mbijiwe’s release. 

“Our hearts are weak, and only prayers and hope have kept us going. The government should tell us where my son is. If he has done wrong and is alive, he should be charged in a court of law,” she said. 

In April 2022, in another attempt to draw attention to the family’s diminishing resources and hope, Daisy publicly expressed her desire to be then Deputy President William Ruto’s running mate in that year’s election. She said she trusted him and believed he would help bring Mbijiwe home. 

Mbijiwe’s case may be one of the longest, but abductions and disappearances in Kenya are not new. Kenyans have grown accustomed to stories of people taken by unknown men, bundled into unmarked vehicles, driven to undisclosed locations, and held incommunicado for days. 

Fingers have often been pointed at state agents — a claim frequently raised by human rights groups. 

The trend escalated dramatically during the anti–Finance Bill protests of 2024, led largely by Gen Z. The demonstrations triggered a surge in disappearances unlike anything previously witnessed. Those who resurfaced later described interrogations in isolated rooms, confiscated phones, blindfolded transfers, and threats to stay away from protests. 

Some victims were released at night and warned not to speak. Families often posted missing person alerts on social media because police stations had no record of arrests. Others were dumped miles from where they had been taken, disoriented and stripped of personal belongings. 

Among the most publicised cases was that of activist Bob Njagi and brothers Jamil and Aslam Longton, abducted in August 2024 for their role in organising anti-government protests. They were held incommunicado for 32 days and later recounted prolonged detention in undisclosed facilities, persistent questioning, and complete isolation. No charges were ever brought. 

Foreign nationals have also been caught up in these incidents. Ugandan politician Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi in November 2024 under mysterious circumstances and later transported back to Uganda, where he now faces treason-related charges. 

In the run-up to the 2022 election, two Indian nationals working with President William Ruto’s campaign team disappeared alongside their Kenyan driver in Nairobi. Investigations later pointed to officers from the now-disbanded Special Service Unit. 

In May this year, President Ruto assured the country that all Kenyans reported missing under suspicious circumstances had been safely reunited with their families, saying his administration was committed to preventing enforced disappearances. 

“There is an accountability mechanism to ensure such situations are addressed. I undertook to the country that, as a democracy, Kenya will not return to the dark days when citizens disappeared and their bodies were found in all manner of places. That will not happen under my administration,” he said. 

Additional reporting by Emmanuel Kipchumba