Former Chief Justice David Maraga has criticized President Wiliam Ruto over his claim that all abductees have been released and reunited with their families.
In a statement dated Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Maraga urged the President to expedite 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.
“Kenya, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, should ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and adopt national legislation to prevent and criminalize enforced disappearances,” read part of the statement.
Maraga Lashes Out at Ruto Over Abduction Remarks
Additionally, the former Chief Justice urged the government to expedite the recommendations emerging from the 1 May Universal Periodic Review process in Geneva, for the government to conduct impartial and effective investigations into the excessive use of force against protesters and bring those responsible to justice.
The former Chief Justice described President Ruto’s remarks on the abductees and their families as unconscionable to hear.
“It is unconscionable to hear the President claim, without any apology to the victims, parents, and families, that there are no ongoing incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings and that accountability mechanisms are in effect,” Maraga stated.
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Maraga further stated that President Ruto’s remarks are hurtful as parents continue to mourn their children while other abductees are still missing, noting the example of Brian Odhiambo, a fisherman from Lake Nakuru who has now been missing for four months after he was allegedly abducted by KWS officers.
“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.
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?” the former Chief Justice said.
President Ruto Says All Abductees Have Been Released
On Monday, May 12, in a joint press conference with Finland President Alexander Stubb, President Ruto, when asked by a foreign journalist about the issue of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in the country, responded saying, “All the people who disappeared or who were abducted 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.”
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According to a May 2025 report by the civic coalition Missing Voices, 159 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances were documented in 2024, marking a 24% increase from the previous year.
Of these, 55 cases (35%) were enforced disappearances, a surge of 450% from 10 cases in 2023, making 2024 the highest year on record for such incidents.
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