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Former Chief Justice David Maraga has rebuked President William Ruto after he said that all Kenyans who were abducted have been reunited with their families.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 13, Maraga said it was unconscionable for the President to claim all missing persons had been reunited with their families without issuing any apology.
Maraga also slammed President Ruto for claiming that there are no ongoing incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings and that accountability mechanisms are in effect.
“Brian Odhiambo’s mother continues to search for her son, who was abducted four months ago. There are many other similar cries for justice as we have seen in the petition launched on Mother’s Day by the parents of youth killed during the protests in June 2024,” said Maraga.
“Such utterances are deeply hurtful, especially to parents still mourning the loss of their children. How long shall the lives of innocent Kenyans be so devalued and dismissed?”
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The former Chief Justice cited a report by the civic coalition Missing Voices that revealed that there were a total of 159 documented killings and enforced disappearances in 2024, with 104 of these cases being police killings and 55 cases being enforced disappearances.
Maraga further called for the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of all persons from enforced disappearance and to adopt national legislation aimed at preventing and criminalizing enforced disappearances.
“Kenyans hunger for a nation that protects its children, a government that values human lives, and a leadership that speaks the truth, especially when truth is fundamental to justice and the preservation of respect for the highest office. We must demand that the promises of the Constitution be taken seriously, and human life be held sacred,” he added.
On Monday, May 12, during a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Ruto assured Kenyans that all reported missing persons have been safely reunited with their families.
The Head of State said accountability measures were being put in place to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.
"All the people who disappeared or were abducted in what you said (Gen Z protests) have been brought back to their families and their homes.
"I have given firm instructions that nothing of that kind of nature will ever happen again. It was my commitment as I became President that the extrajudicial disappearance of Kenyans would not be part of what we are doing as a nation," the President stated.
