Court Orders Police to Produce Missing Wajir Assistant County Commissioner Amid Fears of Enforced Disappearance
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By Dennis Wanyonyi
The High Court in Nairobi has directed the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to trace and produce Hussein Abdirahaman Mohammed, the Assistant County Commissioner of Wajir County, who has been missing since July 8, 2025.
Justice Chacha Mwita issued the directive following submissions by lawyers Shadrack Wambui, Danstan Omari, and Hussein Abdullahi, representing Mohammed’s family. They told the court that the senior civil servant mysteriously disappeared a day after hosting Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku in Wajir County.
“This is a highly unusual case involving a top government official who is also a member of the county security committee,” said Omari. “He is responsible for issuing passports and ID cards and also serves as the manager of the Wajir Huduma Centre. He cannot simply vanish without a trace.”
According to Wambui, Mohammed dropped off his children at school and reported to work on the morning of July 8. Since then, he has not been seen or heard from. The court was told he was due to proceed on annual leave after hosting the CS.
Wambui urged the court to compel the state’s top security agencies to account for Mohammed’s whereabouts. “The Inspector General and the Attorney General must restore public confidence by demonstrating that no Kenyan — not even a government official — can be made to disappear without explanation,” he argued.
The lawyers further told the court that Mohammed’s disappearance raised serious concerns of possible incommunicado detention by state agents. They filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus, compelling the state to produce Mohammed in court, either alive or deceased.
However, a state counsel representing the Attorney General, the IG, and the DCI opposed the application, arguing that such orders can only be granted if the suspect is known to be in state custody. The state maintained that county security teams in Wajir had not located Mohammed and that there was no evidence he was being detained by the police.
Referencing Sections 389 of the Penal Code and 109 of the Evidence Act, the state counsel insisted that the burden of proof lay with the petitioner to show that Mohammed was in police custody.
Despite these objections, Justice Mwita ruled in favour of the family’s plea, ordering the police and the DCI to locate Mohammed and present him before a court on or before September 16, 2025.
The ruling has intensified public interest in the case and renewed concerns over enforced disappearances and accountability within Kenya’s security agencies. The family continues to maintain that Mohammed’s disappearance is not random, calling on the state to fulfill its constitutional duty to protect its citizens.
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