Haki Africa raises concerns over forced disappearance of civilians

Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid (left) with the family of Yusuf Ghasana who was abducted from his house in Komarock on May 30. [Samson Wire, Standard]

A lobby group has raised the alarm that another police killer squad could have re-emerged.

This follows cases of forced disappearances, with the latest incident being that of Yusuf Ghasana, according to Haki Africa. Ghasana has been missing for the last 11 days.

According to Haki Africa Chief Executive Officer Hussein Khalid, there have been similar cases in the recent past.

Ghasana's relatives fear the worst may have happened to their kin. The family says despite assurances from security organs that investigations are ongoing, nothing has come out.

According to his family, a man and woman came knocking on Ghasana's door in Komarock estate on May 30, at around 7.30pm and inquired whether there was a vacant house in the apartment.

Ghasana was seated on the couch assisting his six-year-old daughter with homework. The 56-year-old referred the visitors to the caretaker after informing them that there was no vacant house.

But after 10 minutes, three men came back making the same inquiry. The daughter told them there was no vacant house. They pretended as if leaving but returned, grabbed the Rwandese, tied his hands from behind and dragged him to a waiting car.

According to the wife, Hawa Jumapili, who was in the kitchen, she thought robbers had raided their house following the commotion. She dashed to the living room, but the strangers had already left with her husband.

Jumapili immediately called security but her husband had already been whisked away.

The abductors are said to have taken Ghasana's tablet but left his mobile phone.

"I called them (guards) and asked them to be on alert and withhold anyone who would be accompanying him. They did not see when the vehicle left the court. Maybe they were expecting to see a commotion," she narrated.

The matter was reported at Kayole Police Station where officers immediately launched investigations.

"The police collected CCTV footage and told us to allow them to conduct an investigation. We have reached out to other people that can assist us find our kin," said Ghasana's daughter.

The family says the details of the vehicle clash with those found at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) following a search. "The vehicle according to the security was a land cruiser, cream in colour but when we did the search, we found that it is a station wagon," a family member said.

Khalid says the case is similar to that of Martin Ghanat who was picked from Imara Daima estate on June 6, 2023, and has disappeared without trace.

"We don't know if the two cases are linked but they happened in a similar manner. And this is why we are concerned," Khalid said.

The people suspected to have abducted Ghanat came looking for a house before they turned against him.

Khalid is demanding the government pronounce itself on the worrying trend.

"We are most concerned with the return of forced disappearance under this regime after they promised to operate strictly within the confines of the law with total respect for human rights," said Khalid. "We don't know if the government has revived another killer unit in a different name after disbanding the Special Service Unit (SSU)," he added.

One of the first undertakings President William Ruto made when he was sworn into office was disbanding SSU.

"I am the one who ordered that the Special Service Unit, which was conducting extrajudicial killings, be disbanded. We have a plan on how to secure this country so that we avoid the shame of Kenyans killed by the police and their bodies dumped in Yala River and others. We are going to change this country for the better," said Dr Ruto.

Recent cases reported to police could give weight to the claims that forced disappearances are back. One of the cases is of a Kenyan man who has been missing since February.

According to the lobby group, Hamizi Zuma Madilo went missing at Horo Horo on the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Haki Africa says the last communication he had with the family was that he was being held at Duga Police Station and thereafter no communication.

In March, a South Sudanese politician and human rights activist Morris Mabior Awikjok, who was seeking asylum in the country went missing and has not been found.

Mabior was said to have been taken by five armed men and a woman believed to be police officers from his Kangundo Road house after trailing him from a nearby shop and forcing him to open the door.

His wife Angelina Aliet said the activist had been living in the country for the past two years after falling out with the government in Juba.