'Ndiangui Kinyagia should surrender himself': DCI denies holding missing blogger

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says Ndiangui Kinyagia, the blogger and activist who went missing from his house in Kinoo, Kiambu County on June 22 is not in police custody.

Kinyagia was forcefully picked up from the house by suspected security officers in Subaru vehicles in the afternoon, according to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which cited Kinyagia's neighbours.

His whereabouts have remained unknown since.

The High Court on Monday ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Douglas Kanja, to produce Kinyagia in court without fail or explain why he cannot be found.

Yet in a press conference in Nairobi later in the afternoon, DCI Director Mohammed Amin said police don’t know about the blogger’s whereabouts, either.

“Ndiangui is not under the custody of the National Police Service. He is a person of interest to us and wherever he is, I would urge that he submits and surrenders himself to the DCI,” he said.

Amin confirmed that Kinyangia was linked to an X account that posted a viral photo of a mock invitation to last Wednesday’s demonstration to commemorate last year’s deadly anti-finance bill protests.

The mock image, shared on June 19, features Kenya's coat of arms and an itinerary of events, among them a march to the State House in Nairobi and the swearing-in of a so-called transition council.

“He was a person of interest to us after he published very, very inflammatory material on social media,” Amin told reporters, claiming that police officers only searched Kinyagia’s house, confiscated some of his gadgets, and left.

“We managed to recover an assortment of electronic gadgets we believed would be useful to us in our investigations,” the DCI boss said.

In Monday’s court order, Justice Chacha Mwita directed the police inspector-general to either produce Kinyagia in court or provide a satisfactory explanation by Tuesday 11:00 a.m. during an in-person mention of the matter.

“We don’t have him; that is what I am going to say to the judge tomorrow. He should surrender to assist in our investigations,” Amin said.

LSK has said Kinyagia’s case “bears the hallmarks of an enforced disappearance and a possible unlawful arrest or detention.”

“The LSK views it as a grave violation of constitutional rights and a direct attack on the rule of law in Kenya. We are demanding immediate and transparent action from the authorities,” the lawyers’ body said last week.