Five of six activists who vanished following their arrest during the June 25 Gen Z anniversary protests were found abandoned by the roadside in Nairobi’s Hurlingham area at around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, bearing signs of torture — while one protester, Davis Lichuma, remains missing and unaccounted for.
The five — identified as Collins Ochieng, Muteti Mulinge, Michael Ngigi, Elisha Alam, Fredrick Ojiro, and Christine Walubengo — were rushed to hospital for urgent medical treatment following their discovery. Rights groups allege they were beaten and subjected to cruel and degrading treatment while held at an undisclosed location after being taken from Central Police Station in Nairobi.
Amnesty International Kenya confirmed the discovery in a statement, saying: “Collins Ochieng, Muteti Mulinge, Michael Ngigi, Elisha Alam, Fredrick Ojiro, and Christine Walubengo, who went missing after being arrested during yesterday’s #JusticeForOurFallen procession, have been found abandoned by the roadside. They are currently receiving medical treatment after alleging that they were beaten and subjected to torture while in custody.”
The six had been arrested on June 25 near Parliament buildings by individuals believed to be plainclothes police officers during demonstrations marking the first anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests. Fellow activists, including Boniface Mwangi, witnessed the arrests. Despite photographic evidence of the detentions circulating widely, police at multiple Nairobi stations reportedly refused to enter the disappearances in their occurrence books.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) raised the alarm on Friday, stating: “Police in different stations in Nairobi are refusing to record an OB for the enforced disappearances of our six comrades. Police took them during the June 25 commemoration and must produce them.”
It remains unclear whether the six were included in the 355 arrests reported by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during a Thursday evening briefing.
With five now found, urgent attention has turned to Davis Lichuma, who remains missing. Amnesty International has demanded the National Police Service immediately disclose his whereabouts and secure his release, warning: “Every passing moment without answers heightens concern for his safety.”
The organization has formally called on the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) to launch an immediate, independent, and impartial investigation into the torture allegations, and to identify and prosecute those in the chain of command responsible.
The incidents unfolded against a backdrop of mass arrests across the country. On Friday, 355 individuals detained during the anniversary protests were arraigned in courts nationwide. Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko intervened to pay the Ksh 1,000 cash bail for 200 of those charged at the Milimani Law Courts, securing their release.
For many Kenyans, the images of activists being snatched from the streets and later found dumped in the dark have stirred painful memories of the enforced disappearances that marked the height of the 2024 protest crackdown — and raised fresh, urgent questions about accountability within the National Police Service.
