A mother’s anguish filled the Nairobi courtroom on Tuesday as Jane Gatwiri shared her ongoing struggle to find her missing son, security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe. She described years of uncertainty and frustration while pleading for answers from authorities.
“My son was last seen travelling to Meru. I have been searching for him for years, but I keep hitting dead ends,” Gatwiri told the judges, highlighting the heavy emotional toll the ordeal has taken on her family.
She told the court that repeated appeals to government agencies, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), have yielded no answers. Gatwiri claims her son was taken by State agents along Thika Superhighway, yet investigations into the matter have not been conducted to her satisfaction.
Gatwiri recalled how her first attempt to report Mwenda missing at Timau Police Station in Buuri West Sub-County was dismissed.
“First of all, I reported the matter on 14th at Timau police station, but I was told the matter is not yet 72 hours old, so I have to wait for 72 hours to be over so that I can report the person as missing,” she said.
Authorities later recovered Mwenda’s vehicle abandoned near Tatu City in Kiambu County, but no explanation has ever been provided for his disappearance.
The hearing takes place as court orders issued in 2025 requiring the State to present Mwenda, dead or alive, remain unfulfilled.
On October 28, High Court judge Martin Muya directed both the DCI and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to provide a full report on his whereabouts, noting the agencies’ failure to comply and fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.
During the proceedings, Gatwiri’s family submitted a 2025 letter from the ODPP to the DCI asking whether the agency had objections to releasing Mwenda on bond. The family introduced the document as crucial evidence in their habeas corpus application seeking information on Mwenda’s location.
Lawyer Evans Ondieki, representing the family, said the letter suggests Mwenda may have been held in custody, contradicting the State’s claim that his location is unknown.
“The communication raises serious questions about the official record and the DCI’s handling of this matter,” Ondieki said. “Engagement between the ODPP and DCI over Mwenda’s possible release is inconsistent with claims that he was never detained.”
Ondieki also reminded the court that the October 2025 order to produce Mwenda has not been obeyed, describing four years without answers as “an unreasonably long time” for the family to endure anguish and uncertainty.
The prosecution and DCI have not yet responded to the family’s claims regarding the letter or the repeated court order violations. The court must first determine whether the ODPP–DCI correspondence is genuine and admissible as evidence.
The habeas corpus case will continue on February 11, 2026, as Gatwiri and her family push for accountability and clarity over the disappearance of Mwenda Mbijiwe, a former Kenya Air Force pilot whose vanishing has attracted public concern over enforced disappearances.
Previously, Ondieki told the court he had served summonses on the DPP and IGP to appear on October 14, 2025, but both asked for more time. Justice Muya ordered the summonses to be re-served and the case mentioned again on October 15 for further directions.
Gatwiri accused State agencies of causing psychological and emotional torture over four years, saying Mwenda has been kept incommunicado since disappearing near Roysambu, Nairobi County.
