A petition has been filed in the High Court seeking the urgent production of missing civic activist Ndiangui Kinyangia, who was reportedly abducted by masked men believed to be plainclothes police officers in Kinoo on June 21, 2025.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), which filed the petition, is demanding the court issue a writ of habeas corpus compelling the government—including key security agencies and senior officials—to produce Kinyangia alive and in court. The matter has been certified as urgent.
Court filings describe the abduction as carried out by “unidentified men masked in balaclavas, armed with handguns, and travelling in unmarked vehicles with distorted number plates.” Since then, Kinyangia’s family has had no communication about his whereabouts. A report was made at Kinoo Police Station under OB Number 16/23/06/2025.
“No charges have been preferred against the 2nd Petitioner, nor has there been any formal arraignment,” the petition notes, calling the incident a “blatant violation of Article 49 of the Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code.”
The LSK argues that Kinyangia’s disappearance is linked to his online activism and civic engagement. The petition warns that continued state inaction, silence, or complicity in such enforced disappearances poses a grave threat to Kenya’s rule of law and democratic space.
It further seeks conservatory orders barring further abductions and calls for top officials to be summoned to explain the activist’s disappearance. The petitioners cite Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Code and multiple constitutional rights, urging the court to act decisively.
“The continued silence by the respondents is alarming,” the petition reads. “This court must protect not just one man, but the principle of liberty itself.”
