IG Kanja, DCI boss ordered to produce missing Busia businessman, 292 days later

It is now 292 days after Busia businessman Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mohamed went missing.

The High Court has ordered IG Douglas Kanja and DCI boss Mohamed Amin to produce missing Busia businessman Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mohamed, dead or alive, within 48 hours and pay him Sh5.84 million in damages over his 292-day disappearance 

Justice Samuel Mohochi issued an order like a writ of habeas corpus, compelling IG Douglas Kanja, DCI boss Mohamed Amin and the ATPU commander to produce Ahmed before the court within three days after declaring his nearly 10-month disappearance since January illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of his fundamental rights. 

In a judgment delivered on Friday, November 13, 2026, the judge declared that Ahmed's unlawful arrest, incommunicado detention and continued enforced disappearance constituted a flagrant and ongoing violation of his fundamental rights under Articles 25(a), 28, 29 and 49 of the Constitution.

The court awarded him Sh5.84 million in general, aggravated and exemplary constitutional damages against the Inspector General, National Police Service, DCI, ATPU commander, Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, Interior Cabinet Secretary and Attorney General, jointly and severally.

The judge warned that the State could not escape accountability through blanket denials while a Kenyan citizen remained missing.

"Enforced disappearance is a continuous, agonising violation of Articles 25(a), 28, 29, and 49. The Constitution of Kenya does not permit citizens to vanish into thin air, nor does it tolerate unacknowledged, secret detentions," Justice Mohochi ruled.

The court rejected the State's argument that Ahmed could have been abducted by criminals posing as police officers, finding that the circumstances surrounding his disappearance raised serious questions about the involvement of security agencies.

Justice Mohochi noted that the abduction took place at the Korinda Main Prison area, a highly secured zone where armed prison officers were stationed.

The judge questioned how ordinary criminals could have stopped a passenger bus, switched on its interior lights, checked passengers' identification documents, removed Ahmed and ransacked his luggage in full view of a heavily guarded prison facility without intervention.

"Here, the abductors acted with the calm, unchallenged authority of state agents who knew they had absolute immunity and command over that specific geographical territory," the judge observed.

The court further found that police had failed to interview the bus driver, Peter Kimemia, despite his being at the front of the vehicle during the incident.

It also faulted investigators for failing to visit Korinda Main Prison or interview armed prison officers who were on duty when the businessman was seized.

Justice Mohochi said these omissions undermined the State's explanation that Ahmed had been taken by civilian criminals.

The judge consequently drew an adverse inference against the security agencies, noting that operational details surrounding the roadblock, including deployment rosters, vehicle logs, command structures and intelligence records, were exclusively within the State's knowledge.

"The executive cannot defeat the liberty of a citizen based on unsupported conjecture," the judge ruled.

In another significant order, the court directed the Inspector General and DCI director to convene a physical meeting with Ahmed's family within 14 days to tender an unreserved apology over what it described as institutional indolence, deliberate omissions and failure to conduct timely and effective investigations.

The two security chiefs must also publish a formal public apology within 21 days, including broadcasting it on at least two mainstream local radio stations within Busia County in Kiswahili and the predominant local dialect.

The court further ordered the Inspector General to institute a comprehensive internal administrative inquiry into possible involvement, collusion or gross negligence by officers from the National Police Service, DCI and ATPU who participated in joint operations in Busia County on January 25, 2026.

IPOA was ordered to immediately assume full, independent and exclusive investigative control over Ahmed's disappearance.

The authority must record statements from key witnesses who have not been interviewed, including the bus driver, booking clerk Ashraf and armed prison wardens stationed at Korinda Main Prison on the night of January 25, 2026.

It must also submit a comprehensive progress report to the court within 45 days.

The judge additionally directed the Interior Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General to initiate the process of ratifying and domesticating the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance within the stipulated timelines.

The court noted that Kenya signed the international convention in February 2007 but had yet to ratify it.

Ahmed disappeared on the night of January 25, 2026, while travelling from Busia to Nairobi aboard a Buscar passenger bus, registration number KDM 252P.

According to evidence presented in court by petitioners led by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and Ahmed's uncle, the bus was intercepted near Korinda Main Prison by four men travelling in a black Volkswagen, who allegedly identified themselves as security officers. 

The abductors reportedly checked passengers' identification documents before forcing Ahmed out of the bus following a physical confrontation and taking away his greenish luggage bag.

His phone subsequently went offline, with Safaricom data placing its last network signal at Korinda Main Prison Stage.

The State had denied having Ahmed in custody, arguing that he was abducted by unknown criminals impersonating security officers.

However, the court held that the State had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for his disappearance.

The judge further ordered that any party that disobeys the judgment would be liable for contempt of court, including possible arrest, civil jail for up to six months and personal fines.

The court retained supervisory jurisdiction over the matter and directed that the case return for a compliance mention after the 45-day investigative reporting period.